Living On
by Z.A.G
Summary: Cloud left me there to die. I would have too, if it wasn't for my savior. I swear I'll repay her someday, but the only problem is, I don't know who she is.' A warrior's journey continues, and it has some interesting effects on AVALANCHE's quest.ZackYuff
1. Final Thoughts

Hello my fellow Final Fantasy Seven fans. Before you read on, let me say this. If you're like me then you've played the game more times than you can count, gotten everything possible, beaten every opponent thrown at you, and seen all flashbacks and story in the game. In fact, you've played it so many times that you begin to have a bunch of 'What ifs' forming in your mind and you begin to think how the story would of changed if that key 'what if' had in fact happened. Then you find a way to think that 'what if' is actually quite possible by finding a bit of a gap somewhere in the game. You think the game didn't cover one part of the game well enough so that your 'what if' could of in fact happened, and should of.

Well... That happened to me.. I first thought of this a while back, than I just pushed it off as wishful thinking. But then the thought came back to me, and the whole idea of the thing seemed more plausible than not. What is this seemingly wonderful, magnificent, spectacular 'What if?' Heh... Read and find out. But it will make you start thinking about the game once more. If I manage that, than I've done my job. And not only that... But I think I have the most original pairing in here... I least I think... I've never seen a story done on these two before... I've always found it a bit... intriguing myself. Heh heh heh.

Disclaimer- I don't own Final Fantasy 7

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Final Thoughts

When I was a kid I always thought that if I believed I was unbeatable, than nothing could stand in the way of my goals, my dreams, or my missions. And whenever I succeeded in my goals or fulfilled one of my dreams, my ego would become bigger. The greatest success in my life was when I finally fulfilled a life long dream. I trained day in and day out for years in order to make it to the top. I believed to be the best, and was ready for anything. The harsh reality of it all finally crashed around me, I wasn't the best, and I wasn't unbeatable.

I first learned that I was weak when I realized how much stronger that man was than myself, his skill and strength far surpassed my own, what's worse was that I knew it, and couldn't possibly catch up to him. I had found a friend in him, as awkward as our friendship was, but having him as a friend was quite an advantage. I learned many things by speaking with him, and watching as he took down his enemies with a single slash of his deadly sword. To say I was impressed with his skills the first time I witnessed him fight in combat would of been an understatement.

And yet, I was jealous, jealous of his strength for I knew I could never measure up to him. That was a harsh reality to come to terms with, but not as much as my second let down. I planned on being a hero, to save the townspeople, be one of the guys that saved the damsel in distress. Yet I failed to do so. I was too late, the man I had called friend had burned the entire town to the ground and left the 'damsel in distress' within an inch of her life. I thought that my anger, my fury, the burning rage in my body would give me the strength to defeat someone who I was and will always be outmatched against. I was fooling myself, the fight was short lived, I had lost.

Luckily for me however, that crazed lunatic was tossed off into the bottom of the reactor, a threat to the planet itself being destroyed. I was alive, and my eyes were opened to a new realization. Even the weak people can be heroes. Because on that day, a mere low class soldier, who happened to be a friend of mine, was able to beat the greatest warrior of all time. He had defeated Sephiroth.

I would have congratulated him, if it wasn't for the fact my body lacked the energy to move. All I could do was watch as my blonde haired buddy collapse from obvious blood loss. How long I sat there, I do not know, but I do know at one time however, several men ran into the reactor and began carrying his body away before grabbing me and hauling me off to wherever they took him.

Saving our lives wasn't their intentions either. They used us as test subjects, keeping us submerged in mako for months, no.. years on end. I felt hopeless, and worst of all, helpless. My strength wasn't returning as it should have when the injuries healed. Than one day, I managed to summon up every once of strength in my being that I could to free myself. Then I released my friend, Cloud. Saving him, just as he once saved everyone, including myself, from Sephiroth.

When I managed to get us away from that town, I began getting back all the pride I had lost. I had done it, I had saved someone, not just anyone, but someone I actually care about. True, he wasn't quite himself anymore, the experiments the scientists performed on us, left him a bit... dopey to say the least, and he couldn't seem to speak. His eyes were dull with confusion as if he didn't know where he was, or who he was for that matter. But that didn't phase me, the only thing that mattered was that we were free and that I was going back.

Just to see her smiling face again would be enough reason to go back to that dirty, scummy city. Not everything was as ugly as the slums of Midgar. I had found someone who seemed to have an angel's grace, and a heart full of love. I had left her there to go on the mission to Nibeliheim, and not a day went by that I didn't think of her. As I got closer to the city, my mind was like a fireworks show, millions of scenarios played through my mind as I half carried, half dragged Cloud on my back. How would she react when she sees me again? Has she moved on? Would she welcome me back with open arms like she's done so many times before? Just outside of Midgar, I was so confident that I would get to see her, that I began to think nothing would stop me, that I was invincible.

So here I am currently paying for my grave mistakes. The searing pain courses throughout my body as I feel each bullet imbed itself into my chest. If I knew this would happen, I would of worn some sort of armor or something. I was shot down by a trio of mere low class soldiers. Now I stare up at them through half closed eyes. A couple more bullets are shot at me, causing me to give a gasp of pain before I turn my head to the side.

Do they think I'm dead? They must because they walk away. I can hear them mention something about a half dead man. Are they talking about Cloud? Are they going to finish him now too? I'd give anything right now to have the strength to stop them. But wait.. they're walking away... They're just leaving Cloud there?

Now what do I do? If I don't get help soon, I'm going to die, and I was so close to seeing her once again, so very close. Cloud... he can help me, if he could just gather the strength to help himself first. I'm so tired... I can't even gather the strength to open my eyes anymore... I can feel my own blood forming a pool underneath me, each breath I take it feels like a hundred knives are being driven through me. So... This is it... I'm going to die out here on this cliff. I must say, I always figured I'd have a heroic death, should of died five years ago at that damn reactor.

Wait a minute... I can hear Cloud crawling towards me. He's going to save me, he'll save me, he has to, I'm his friend, friends look out for each other. Why did he take the Buster Sword out of my hand? Why is he screaming? Is he in pain? No wait... he doesn't think I'm.... Hey! Just check my pulse and you'll see I'm still alive! Come on! I'm breathing! I'm not dead, can't you tell!? Ok... maybe it is hard to tell that I am breathing, even with being half dead I can tell that my breaths are shallow, I can't seem to force myself to breath anymore than I am. Now he's running away? Why is he running? I can hear the sound of his boots sprinting across the ground. Wait a minute... Since when can he even hold himself up on his own two feet? Damn... I've been carrying him around when he could of walked on his own?

He left me here to die... Is he off to get revenge for my death? Or rather soon death. I can hardly feel the pain now, everything seems so... quiet now, peaceful even. Despite the coldness, it's rather comfortable. Strange how everything around me doesn't seem to make a noise, except for the breeze blowing. Are those... footsteps I hear? Did Cloud come back? If I could just open my eyes and see him, he'd know I'm alive. Why won't he do anything? Why is he just standing there? Won't he help me?

Who knew it would take a sharp kick in my side for me to open my eyes and gasp in pain? I mean really... you'd think I'd be making some sort of painful noise from all the gunshots in my body. So It's a bit surprising that I managed to open my eyes up for that brief second, too bad I didn't see anyone before my eyes closed once again. "Oh my GAWD! You're alive!?" That's a strange question to ask on account I just moved. Hmm... Is it me.. or does this person sound a bit...foreign? Definitely not someone from Midgar, that's for sure. No one near my hometown either or Clouds.... possibly not even on this continent. Will this person save me? Why are they searching through my pockets? Are they looking for ID or something? I'm not carrying anything. Well I am... But it's "Only a few Gil." Ah... So... this person is taking my money, more than likely a thief or something. Great... Not only am I going to die... But I just got robbed. What a way to go. "Nothing else worth taking... Well... Have a nice death mister."

They're leaving... They could be my last and only hope. "H-help..." Hey! I managed to speak for once! And do my ears deceive me, or did the footsteps stop? Perhaps I can persuade this person to save me... I could.. strike them a deal or something.. yeah... it would work.... if I had something worth giving. But sadly... The few Gil they already took was the only thing I had, besides my Buster Sword.. And Cloud already took that. I can't say I like the situation I'm in... I've never really asked for help before... then again... I've never really needed it either.

Are they going to help me? Or have they already walked away without me realizing it? No wait... They're dragging me by my arms, they're taking me somewhere! "Gawd you're heavy!" I'd laugh if I could, but right now, all I can do is just breath, the rest of me is just dead weight. If I could just open my eyes to see you, my savior, I'd tell you thanks. No... thanks wouldn't be enough... And although you cannot hear me now, let me say this: I am in your debt, and if I survive the night I swear upon all that I am, I shall repay you someday. Someway, somehow, I'll repay you, I promise... But for now... I think I'll finally go to sleep and pray in my dreams that I'll awaken to see who my savior is. That way I can thank you properly.

Not to mention you sound cute too...

So everyone... That's it for now. This here is the first chapter... I know it ain't hard to guess who the person is. This is my only second time ever doing a complete chapter in someone's P.O.V. so sorry if it's confusing or something... I don't plan on doing anymore POVs in this story. So... if you were able to catch where and when this is taking place... Does it make you wonder? Do you find this possible at all? Is it making you think, 'You know... I've never really thought of it before.... but it could happen.' I hope I opened up some of your minds.

So here's the deal... And I don't usually make deals about me continuing or not either... but just so I know that there are at least 'SOME' people interested in reading this, review.. and let me know what you think. I don't want to continue something no one is reading.


	2. Short Reunion

Howdy everyone! First off, let me say this... Whoa o.O... I never expected to get so much feedback on the first chapter. Heh heh... I love you all already! Guess it's not too hard to guess on who this fic is centered around, lol. Well... now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do now, the first chapter is the only thing I had planned out, I hadn't thought of anything else ahead of it, lol. I'm just like that. But I kind of got the gist of some of the things I want to do. Well.. I'll just find out what happens as I go along, nothing too bad can happen... at least I hope

Disclaimer- I do not own Final Fantasy 7

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Short Reunion

'Am I dead? No, I can't be. If I'm dead I wouldn't be having this thought right now. Everything is so quiet. Wait, I do hear something. Is someone speaking to me? Their voice seems like a far away whisper. I can't seem to understand the words. It's a bit frightening, it's as if I'm hearing a voice in my head. I must be delusional from blood loss or something because last I checked, I wasn't crazy.'

Such were the thoughts of the bedridden man as he lays asleep on the hospital bed. Several needles are in his body, where they have been for quite some time now, continually pumping antibiotics into his system, along with fresh blood. The man remains unaware of everything around him as he's helpless to bring himself back to the land of consciousness. The young man's lean but muscular frame is wrapped up in white bandages, giving anyone who walks by his room the impression that he's a mummy. The only thing not bandaged up is the man's head due to the fact it is too much of a hassle with the man's long spiky black hair, and the doctors figured that he would not be too thrilled to wake up to find out his hair had been cut. So they had left it, and opted to just stitch up the few cuts on his head without putting a protective bandage over the stitches.

For the young man, time didn't seem to mean anything to him, as he spent his days dreaming, never waking up. Time seemed much slower for the doctors looking after their patient, having no idea when he's going to wake up. Countless times they argued about just pulling the plug to the life support that's keeping the young man alive, but they could never bring themselves to do it. Months went on without the patient showing any signs of waking up. Doctors began to think he'll be in a coma until the day they pull the plug. Surely they can't keep him forever, the man isn't paying them, how could he? The patient is costing the hospital much money to keep him there.

Then, when everything seemed like all was lost, the young man opened his mako blue eyes for the first time. His first experience upon waking up was the sounds a table with screechy wheels being rolled by his opened door, causing him to involuntarily grind his teeth at the noise. Clenching the sheets of his bed, he pulls himself into a sitting position to scan the surrounding area, his eyes filled with confusion. Where is he? How long has he been here?

The young man rubs his temples as he tries to recollect himself, 'Ok... my name is Zack Buster, I'm a 1st Class SOLDIER. I went on a mission to Nibelheim with Sephiroth and Cloud. Sephiroth went nuts, Cloud killed him. We got experimented on, I freed us, ran to Midgar, and got shot. Scratch that... I got shot many times. Alright... Now that that's figured out... Where the hell am I!?' He'd scream it out loud if he could, but he soon figured out that his voice was hoarse, obviously from lack of use.

Luckily for Zack, he's doesn't have to wait long to get some attention. A nurse glances into his room while passing by, after a moment she's seen again, bending backwards to look back in the room as if not believing what she's seeing. Zack lifts up a hand weakly and waves at her. His eyes sparkle with amusement as she dashes away from the room in a frenzy, calling for a doctor. After several minutes pass by, the nurse returns to his room with the doctor in tow.

Zack raises an eyebrow as the doctor pulls his mouth open and holds his tongue down to look into his throat. Seemingly satisfied, the doctor grabs hold of Zack's wrist and glances at his watch, taking the pulse. The doctor gives a 'Hmm...' before dropping Zack's hand, "Welcome back to the land of the living son." The doctor finally speaks. "We will begin your physical therapy immediately. You want to be moving around again real soon, yes?" The doctor says as he taps Zack in the leg.

Zack's brows furrow, 'Physical therapy? I do feel a bit weaker but... how long have I been laying here?' The bedridden man tries clearing his dry throat, so he can speak, "How long... have I been... here?"

The doctor walks to the end of his bed and picks up a clipboard that's dangling there, "Let's see here.... Close to a month now." The doctor drops the clipboard. Glancing back to Zack the doctor notices his shocked expression, "You're lucky to be alive, son. Your injuries were life threatening, we almost lost you several times in the emergency room."

Zack glances around the room, his gaze resting at the window, all he can see from there is another building standing next to the hospital he's in. Shaking his head, Zack glances back to the doctor, "Where.. is this?"

"You are in the hospital in Sector Four. You were brought here by a young lass. After we took you in, she disappeared before we could ask about the billing arrangement."

Zack can feel his stomach drop at the comment. Suddenly it felt as if his nerves were shot, "Billing arrangement?" He knows what that means. No one else is around to pay for his hospital bill, so he'll be the one stuck paying it. He grieves the day that he sees the bill.

The doctor just gives a humorous chuckle at the young man's sudden dismay, "We'll talk about that later, right now you just need to worry about getting back on your own two feet. Once that's down the hospital can make out some sort of arrangement for the final bill." The doctor turns around and takes a few steps away, "Now than, the nurse shall be helping you for the time being. Take care of the patient."

"Yes, Doctor." The nurse replies sweetly. Zack watches the doctor leave before turning his attention to the nurse. At the sight of the large needle in the burses hand, Zack's face turns white as a ghost. Did he ever mention that he's deathly afraid of needles? "I'm going to need to take some blood from you." The nurse explains as she walks up to the side of the bed. Zack begins taking deep breaths as the nurse pulls up the sleeve of his hospital gown, "This won't hurt one bit." The nurse reassures him, her voice never leaving an once of sweetness. Throughout the hospital, everyone glances around in confusion as a horrified scream echoes throughout the hallways.

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For five weeks Zack went under vigorously therapy. He soon learned what being bedridden for so long can do to a man. With the first few days of his therapy, he could hardly walk. His well toned muscles that sculpted his frame had seemed to melt away as he lay motionless in bed, leaving him scrawny. His own reflection had disgusted him, he was practically all skin and bones. Finally, after three weeks, he was able to run around on his own two feet, and after two more weeks of physical therapy, the doctors said he was well enough to finally leave.

The excitement he has at the moment as he stands in front of the front desk, seems like a natural buzz for him. He can feel his heart pumping rapidly in anticipation. Soon, he'll be able to get out, and soon he can finally fulfill that one burning desire that continually made him to push himself onward. He's been stalled long enough, and now nothing will stop him. The person at the counter is obviously growing more annoyed with the excited man's presence, his constant drumming on the desk increasing the pain of her growing headache.

Zack can't keep the joyous smile off his face as he waits. He feels like he could just jump out of his skin and dance around the entire place, "And here is the bill, the arrangements for payment have been put on the bottom of the bill."

Zack just continues to smile as he grabs the bill and begins walking away, towards the exit of the hospital. As he makes his way out he glances down at the bill, his jaw dropping as he sputters in disbelief, "267,019 GIL!?" He suddenly doesn't feel so good, as a matter of fact, he's pretty sure that he was close to blacking out. How is he ever suppose to pay a bill that costs that much!? It's not possible! Not for him at least, he doesn't have any sort of job and he definitely doesn't have money stored safe anywhere. Zack shakes his head in disappointment as he pockets the bill into his pants' pocket.

Fortunately, the hospital had kept his mercenary uniform and had gone an extra step in patching it up for him. Of course now it feels a bit loose due to the fact he's a lot smaller than he used to be. He'll have to start training himself when he gets the chance again. Right now however, none of that matters, what matters is going to see the one person he cares about. All he has to do is get to the neighboring Sector and he'll be there. So with that set firmly in his mind, he begins making his way to the train station.

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Everything is just as he remembers it. He stands in awe as he stares out into the beautiful garden of flowers. How someone manages to grow such things in the slums will always be a mystery to him. The flower garden will always be a place precious to him, he shared so many precious moments in the garden, ones that he'll never forget. He's hoping to make more soon. All he has to do is knock on the front door. Once he knocks, he'll be united with her, his angel.

So what's holding him back? Simple. He's afraid. Afraid of what will happen once he knocks on the front door. What will she say? It's been so long since they've seen each other. What if she doesn't want him anymore, and moved on without him. She'll be angry, he knows. Five years without any news of his whereabouts, no phone call, no letter, nothing at all. He would of contacted her if he could, but he didn't exactly ever have the chance to sit down and write a letter. Heck, she probably won't believe what he's been through, which is one of the reasons he wanted Cloud with him, to have someone back up his story.

'Cloud.... I wonder where he is right now, is he alive? I don't know what happened to him after we reached Midgar. So much for the two of us being mercenaries and making it big. I wonder if those three soldiers killed him, he obviously went after them. I don't think he could of handled them in the condition he was in.'

It saddens him to think of his friend as dead. He remembers when he first met Cloud, the blonde wanted to join SOLDIER. Zack thought he had the potential of becoming one and decided to help train him, but it was all in vain, Cloud couldn't take the vigorous training you're forced into to become part of SOLDIER. He remembered how crushed Cloud had looked when he failed, he looked like he just suddenly gave up on himself, and for a while he closed himself off to the world it seemed. When Zack was assigned to the Nibelheim mission with Sephiroth, he knew it was a good opportunity to cheer Cloud up, after all, what better way to make a friend happy than to give them the chance to work alongside their idol? Of course, things didn't go exactly as planned. Cloud's idol ended up burning down the town and nearly killing everyone living there.

Zack shakes himself out of his thoughts, he'll have time to think about such things later, the present is all that matters. All he has to do is knock on the door, and stop himself from shaking all over. He lets out a deep breath, calming his nerves a bit before raising a hand up and knocking on the door three times. 'Can't turn back now.' He tells himself as he waits for someone to answer.

'Hope they hadn't moved away while I was gone.' He suddenly thinks to himself. He hadn't thought of it until now, it's been five years, they could of finally left the slums. If they did, he'll never be able to find them again. Zack can hear the sound of someone running to the door, his breath catches in his throat as the door opens up, but no ones there. Zack blinks a bit confused before slowly glancing down to see a little girl, no older than four starring up at him in her own confusion. Zack's hopes crashed at the sight of the little girl. 'Oh no.... they moved away...'

"Have they returned, Marlene?" Zack hears a woman inside the house call out to the little girl.

The little girl known as Marlene tilts her head to the side as if trying to figure out who the man in front of her is, "Um... no Mrs. Gainsborough, it's someone else."

The side of Zack's lips twitch threatening to break into a smile. They hadn't moved away as he first thought. They just have a new addition since he's been away. He can hear the mother walking towards the door, her progress almost too slow for Zack to bare. Than she finally appeared at the door, ushering the small child to the side before glancing up to him. At the sight of him, her brows raise high in obvious surprise, and before anything is said between them, Zack wraps his arms around her in a tight hug, "Hello Mrs. Gainsborough!" Zack exclaims happily, a wide smile spreading across his face. He can't describe how happy he was to find out that they still lived there, and that he was finally reunited with them. Well, one of them so far, he still has to be reunited with the real person he came to see.

When Zack finally releases her, his smile drops at the expression on her face. She doesn't look too happy to see him. Zack hangs his head a bit shamed, "I realize this is a bit unexpected."

Before Zack can explain, he gets cut off, "You're gone for five years and expect a warm welcome? Do you realize how crushed Aerith was when you didn't return? You don't send her any news on your whereabouts, making her believe that you're dead, than you come here in hopes of everything being the same?"

"Yes.. I mean no.." Zack lets out a sigh, he never was good with explanation, "I would of wrote honestly! There wasn't a day that went by that I wanted to see her again. But I couldn't. And I'm not just saying that, I honestly couldn't. There was no possible way for me to, if I could of I would of. Please... it wasn't my fault. I can explain everything!" He's a bit frantic now, he doesn't want to lose them, he loves the whole family very much, they're a big part of his life, he doesn't want to lose them, he wants them back. Mrs. Gainsborough steps aside, telling him to come inside. Zack quickly walks in and glances around the house, it's the same as he remembers it. It makes him happy to see that not much has changed in the last five years, "So um... where's Aerith?" OK, so it may seem a bit rude, but give him a break, he hasn't seen her in five years.

Mrs. Gainsborough walks over to the dining room table and sits down, "I'll explain that later. Right now, I want to hear what you have to say." Zack nods his head a bit dumbly at it. Mrs. Gainsborough turns and smiles at Marlene, "Why don't you go upstairs and play." The little girl nods her head once before running up the stairs.

Zack watches the little girl leave before turning his attention to the older woman in front of him. He scratches the back of his head in thought as he takes a seat at the table. 'How to explain everything...' Zack thinks to himself. He folds his hands on the coffee table and glances up to Elmyra, his brows furrow in confusion as he notices the lines of stress on her face, barely noticeable. 'Something's wrong...' He knew the woman for some time, and learned to tell when something is bothering her, but he knows that she won't tell him, not until he's explained himself.

"Alright..." Zack says after much consideration, "You know I went on that mission to Nibelheim five years ago, yes?" He waits for Elmyra to nod her head, telling him that she remembers, "Did you hear anything about the mission in the newspaper or anything?"

"Yes... The Shin-Ra Press reported that the mission was failed. It said that Sephiroth and the remaining men for killed in an accident in the Nibelheim reactor." After a moment of though, Elmyra shakes her head, "But we all know that Shin-Ra's information can never be trusted. That's why Aerith and I believed you were still alive for some time, but after a while, we excepted the fact that you were gone."

"Um..." Zack isn't sure how to respond to that. They excepted the fact he was gone? Does that mean that mean Aerith forgot about him? He prays that she didn't, "Well... you're right. Shin-Ra isn't trustworthy when it comes to getting the truth. We went on the mission, but Sephiroth lost his mind, he just suddenly.. snapped! He killed almost everyone in that town, and burned the town itself to the ground!"

"Oh my..."

Zack's fists clench as his anger grows at the memory, "I tried to stop him. I fought him in the reactor, hoping I could be strong enough to take him down. But I wasn't... I was too weak... He beat me in battle and threw me off to the side as if I was nothing. It was my buddy who was finally able to dispose of him, he threw Sephiroth into the bottom of the reactor. Then some men appeared at the reactor and took the two of us back to the Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim. They had us locked up for the last five years, experimenting on us."

"Experimenting?" Elmyra tilts her head to the side, "What did they do to you?"

Zack shakes his head, "I dunno... As far as I can tell, there doesn't seem anything different about me, maybe they didn't have any effect on me. I can't say the same thing about my friend though, the experiments seemed to have left him... confused to say the least." Zack lets out a tired breath, "I managed to break us free and headed straight here. We were ambushed by three soldiers though, I think they were following us from Nibelheim... I can't be sure.. Well I was shot and almost died, and since my buddy seemed half dead at the time, the soldiers left him there."

"So he saved was able to save you then?"

"No..." Zack pauses a moment in thought, "He thought I was dead.... He took my weapon and ran after the soldiers I think." Zack leans back in his seat, seemingly lost in his thoughts, "Someone else saved me..." After a minute or so, Zack shakes himself out of his thoughts, "I've been bedridden in the Sector Four hospital for a few weeks. I would of come sooner but the doctors wouldn't let me leave."

"I see." Elmyra lowers her gaze to the coffee table, feeling pity for the young man sitting across from her, "You've been through a lot in the last few years, haven't you."

"Mrs. Gainsborough..." Zack's voice takes on the tone of pleading, a tone Elmyra has only heard a handful of times, "Please... Where's Aerith? I miss her, I want to see her."

"I'm sorry... you're too late. Shin-Ra has her now." Elmyra replies ashamed.

Zack jumps out of his seat, causing his chair to tip over backwards, "What!? They have her? When? How did they get her? She would never go to them willingly!" Zack can't believe it. Of course he knows about Aerith's 'gift', being that she's the last Ancient. He had found that out while dating her, and he also knew that Shin-Ra is after her. He had to keep his relationship a secret from the company, otherwise they would try and make him bring Aerith in; not that he would of; he'd quit the company before he brought Aerith before Shin-Ra so they could experiment on her. He even helped her get away from the men chasing after her a few times. He taught her to defend herself against Shin-Ra so she could get away when he's not around.

Now he comes back and she was captured by Shin-Ra? how is it possible? "Aerith went willingly, in order to protect the little girl from harm." Little girl? Ah... Zack isn't surprised by it. Aerith always would put others before herself, and if it meant handing herself over to Shin-Ra to protect a friend, she would gladly do so.

Still, Aerith doesn't belong to Shin-Ra, she doesn't belong to anyone, nor does she deserve to be experimented on or be treated like an animal. No... he won't let Aerith go through such things. With determination burning in his eyes, Zack turns to Elmyra, "I'll go save Aerith!"

Elmyra jumps out of her seat, as Zack heads towards the door, "No no no, wait Zack. No need there's already a group going after her." She explains.

Zack glances over his shoulder at Aerith's mother, and graces her with a raised eyebrow, "What? Who?"

"A terrorist group named AVALANCHE. The leader is the father of the little girl. He feels responsible for Aerith being captured. He feels he needs to make things right." Elmyra explains, hoping that she can convince Zack from doing anything reckless.

"But that's suicide! There'll be members of SOLDIER at headquarters. You can't expect some measly terrorist group to be able to go up against him."

"No.. but a member of AVALANCHE is an Ex- SOLDIER First Class, or so he claims. He would of gone with or without AVALANCHE's help. He was Aerith's bodyguard for some time."

There's a sharp pang of jealousy in the stomach. Someone has been protecting HIS girlfriend? It's his job. "What was his name? There's not that many who make it to first class, I probably knew him."

"He was a young man... I think a few years younger than you. I believed he said his name was.... Cloud."

Zack stood there, frozen to the spot. Then he blinked once, then one more time, then finally he says, "Cloud?.. Cloud?... That's the name of my buddy that went on the NIbelheim mission with me." To say he's surprised would be an understatement. Cloud's name was the last one he was ever expecting to here. "But Cloud wasn't in SOLDIER." He says thoughtfully. "Do he have... messy blonde hair?"

Elmyra nods her head slowly, not really understanding what exactly is going on, "Yes. So you do know him? What do you mean he wasn't in SOLDIER?"

Zack shakes his head, "Never mind that. All that matters right now is getting Aerith. I promise, I'll bring her home."

Before Elmyra can object once again, Zack is out the door. Mrs. Gainsborough can't help but smile though. "That boy always was a bit thickheaded."

Okay everyone! That's it for now! Tell me what ya think. okay? Don't worry. The other characters in the game will be in the fic, somewhere... eventually. Not sure when yet.. There will be a certain someone making an appearance before AVALANCHE though... Rolls eyes I guess that kind of gives away some things but I don't care. Anyways.. Hopes ya liked this chapter too!


	3. Terrorists, Soldiers, And A Ninja

Hey, hey, hey! Well thanks for all the feedback everyone. Hmm.. hmm.. hmm.. There were a few questions about the fic. So I'll answer them now. Yes, Yuffie will be a big part of this fic for all of you wondering. But it may take awhile before I get her in here. Like another chapter or so. Now.. what was the other one... I believe the question was 'How closely related will this be to the game?' Well... AVALANCHE is still on the hunt for Sephiroth, but the journey will certainly have some changes. Actually... You know what? You'll have to wait and find out heeheehee. I know exactly how I'm going to write this. You'll understand as the story continues. Anyways! Enough about that. Let's just read on, right?

Disclaimer- Yep, yep! Still owning nothing. Well actually, if you count the, Oh look a butterfly! (Chases after the butterfly with a tennis racket)

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Terrorists, Soldiers, And A Ninja

The loud rumbling of the thunder echo in the lower plates of Midgar, as the dirty grimy water drips down into the slums. People run about, trying to find shelter from the rain. Zack pays little attention to the rain as he sits on a pipe in Walmarket, trying to figure a way up to Shin-Ra Headquarters. At first, he was planning on using the trains in Sector Seven, what a shock it was to find the entire Sector destroyed. Without the trains, there really wasn't any other way to get to the upper plate. Unless he travels all the way to the train station in Sector Two. He really doesn't want to get stuck walking that far in the slums, without a weapon.

That's one thing he's planning on getting once he reaches Headquarters; finding a new weapon. Technically he never left SOLDIER, he was only missing for awhile. So if he's lucky, he can still get into the building without a problem and get to the artillery floor, where he can get a new sword. All he has to do now is find a way up, which is proving to be more and more difficult. 'Well... sitting around here isn't going to solve anything.' He tells himself before standing back up.

Zack glances around his surrounding area, "Hmm..." He crosses his arms and begins tapping his foot in thought as he stares at the gym. Looking off to his left, he stares at the local bar. Shrugging to himself, Zack begins making his way around the gym. He spots three small children whispering to themselves before running off. Curious as to what they are doing, Zack follows.

Once he catches up to the kids, his gaze falls on a large wire hanging down to the ground from all the way up to the plate. "Hey mister!" Zack snaps his gaze to a young boy, "Are you planning on climbing? There's a lot of people doing it. You can see the Sector Seven wreckage halfway up."

"Can you get to the plate from here?" Zack asks hopefully.

The boy shrugs his shoulders, "I dunno... But there was a small group who tried it yesterday and they haven't come back down yet, so I guess so."

A grins appears on Zack's face, "Thanks kid." Without another word Zack begins climbing towards the top.

------

The last time Zack was at Headquarters was about two months before the Nibelheim mission. Members of SOLDIER aren't usually at HQ since they are sent out on missions that would better the company. After five years without seeing Headquarters, Zack isn't surprised to see much has changed. The only thing that catches him as odd is the fact that several MPs are surrounding the building, their guns aimed at the building. 'What's going on here?' Zack wonders. Running over to one of the MPs, he decides to get some information on the situation, "Hey, what's going on here?" He asks.

The MP turns around and gives an annoyed grunt, "All civilians are to steer clear of the area. So leave now or be arrested."

Zack crosses his arms over his chest, a smirk playing across his face, "Well, good thing I'm not a civilian then. I a member of SOLDIER First Class." he announces, pride clear in his voice. The MP open his mouth to speak but is cut off by the sound of gunfire. Zack turns his gaze to the entrance of Shin-Ra headquarters. A large black man runs out of the building and stops short at the sight of all the military police. He raises his right arm up and releases a swarm of bullets. Zack ducks behind the barrier just in time to hear the bullets whiz by. "Who's that?" Zack asks while thinking, 'This guy most be suicidal if he thinks he can take out the military single handedly.'

The MP officer growls in frustration, "That is Barret Wallace, leader of the terrorist group AVALANCHE. Somehow they managed to break out of their cells and freed the Ancient. We haven't heard anything from the president yet, we believe that AVALANCHE may have killed him." The MP explains.

'Wait a minute... AVALANCHE and Ancient... Elmyra told me that AVLANCHE went to save Aerith... And supposedly Cloud is in this terrorist group.' Zack snaps his gaze back to the MP after watching Barret run back into the building. "Officer, tell the men to cover me."

"What!? Why!?"

Zack grins a bit as an idea forms in his head, "Because I'm going in."

"Alone? Are you insane!? You're unarmed!" The Mp objects.

Zack shrugs his shoulders a bit, "Hey, I'm a member of SOLDIER, remember? We're trained in hand to hand combat."

"But that big guy has a gun. And that bitch Tifa Lockheart is a martial artist."

Zack nearly collapsed in shock, 'Tifa!? She's alive?'

"That's not even the biggest problem. They have an ex SOLDIER first class, as a member of AVALANCHE. He wields a monstrous sword! You can't be seriously thinking about going up against them alone!"

Zack rubs his chin in thought, 'Monstrous sword huh? I guess it really is Cloud then. But why does everyone think he used to be a member of SOLDIER?' Without giving a reply to the MP, Zack leaps over the barrier and sprints toward the Shin-Ra building. He can hear gunfire from behind him, telling him that they are in fact covering him. Which is a good thing because he doubts the terrorist group think he's coming to help them.

Zack stops at the double doors in front of the building. Cautiously he peeks in, seeing no one around. Hesitantly, Zack opens the door and walks in. A loud roaring echoes throughout the building, causing Zack to stop in his tracks to listening. He hears screeching tires, and the roaring growing louder as the thing gets closer. His gaze snaps to the back of the building as a man on a motorcycle and a group in a blue truck drive towards the stairs. his eyes widen a bit in surprise as he recognizes the man on the bike as Cloud. "Cloud!" He shouts over to two loud engines.

He didn't seem to hear him since he doesn't stop. But just as he disappears to the second floor, Cloud glances over his shoulder for a brief second and locks his gaze with Zack's. For that brief second, they were reunited, and Zack could of sworn he saw a smile appear on Cloud's face before he disappeared to the second floor.

Zack doesn't waste any time, he immediately takes off towards the stairs, running as fast as he can. Halfway up the stairs he hear the sound of glass shattering, when he finally reaches the second floor he sees that the window is broke. Running towards the window, Zack glances out of it, to the streets on the upper plate, where he sees two vehicles being chased down by a group of MPs on motorcycles. Despite the fact he came to late, Zack couldn't help but smile, 'Go Cloud... I'll see you around buddy. You damn well better protect Aerith until I find you again.'

"Freeze!"

Zack nearly jumps out of his skin. Turning around quickly he sees several MP officers aiming their guns at him. Zack slowly raises his hands up and laughs nervously, "Uh.. you guys mind pointing those elsewhere?"

"Shut up captive." One of the Mps shout. "Let's throw him into the cells."

Several MPs begin to advance on him, 'Well... this isn't good.. Nope... not good at all.' Zack thinks to himself.

"Hold." A voice shouts in the room. Another MP officer walks appears at the top of the stairs, the one Zack met outside. He walks in front of the group and holds his hand up to tell them to back off, "This man is a Member of SOLDIER, he's not the enemy."

"But..." One of the MPs begins to object.

"Are you questioning my authority?"

"No commander."

'Commander?' Zack thinks to himself, 'I thought he was just a grunt.

"Good, now clear out. We still need to find the president and AVALANCHE is still at large."

"Yes sir!" They all chorus while saluting before they scatter.

Zack scratches the back of his head while giving out a small chuckle, "Uh thanks.. um... I don't think I ever got your name."

"Call me Locke."

"Locke? Um.. okay.. My name is Zack Buster."

"Buster? Hmm..." Locke falls silent.

"Um.. what is it?" Zack asks becoming a bit uncomfortable.

Locke shrugs his shoulder. "Ah..." Dropping his gun on the ground, Locke reaches up to his mask and removes it, instantly feeling the cool air against his face. His light brown hair, damp from sweat, sticks to his forehead. He runs a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his blue eyes, "I hate these things." He comments, referring to the mask.

Zack gives a short laugh at the man. He was a bit surprised to see that Locke, is about the same age as himself, if not a bit older. "Yeah, I had a friend who used to rip the thing off the instant an opportunity presented itself."

"So... That was a pretty mad stunt you pulled." Locke comments, changing the subject, "Running in here to fight a terrorist group single handedly, unarmed no less." Zack just shrugs a response. Locke gives Zack a look over, "And to tell you the truth, you look a bit scrawny to be a First Class Soldier."

Zack nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, I was bedridden in the hospital to for time. They wouldn't let me leave either until I had enough strength to walk. Then I came here."

"You don't say." The commander replies, "What happened to you that got you bedridden for so long?"

"I was ambushed by a pack of monsters outside the city." Not exactly the truth, but he couldn't very well tell him that he was ambushed by a group of MPs, that would raise too much suspicion, and he's not sure he'll be able to make up a believable story to explain why he was ambushed by Shin-Ra military police.

"Well... I'm not surprised that you got injured. Can't defend yourself very well without a weapon." Locke points out.

"Right... I did have a sword, I lost it outside the city somewhere. So I need to get to the armory on the forty- seventh floor to get a replacement sword."

Locke studies the so-called First Class SOLDIER in front of him for a moment. Trying to decide whether he believes him or not. Zack's story is a bit, vague to say the least. It raises many questions in the commander's thoughts. For instance. Why was Zack outside the city to begin with? And why was he in one of the hospitals when they have doctors here? Not to mention the name Zack Buster seems strangely familiar from somewhere. He could swear that he's heard the name before.

"Very well... The elevators down stairs in the lobby are out of service so you'll have to use the ones on this floor or the third." Zack gives a short nod in reply. "It was a pleasure meeting you, we'll meet again, I'm sure." Zack just stood there a bit uncomfortable as Locke walks away, down the stairs to the lobby. He scratches his head; deciding nothing of it before he walks over to the elevators. Locke grabs hold of his radio once Zack is in the elevator, "Everybody report back to the lobby!"

Zack watches as the floor numbers pass by while waiting for his floor to show up. Since he's going to the forty-seventh floor it leaves time for thought. 'Let's see.. Get a replacement for my Buster Sword, then I'll drop by to speak with Elmyra one more time before I go off to find Cloud. I can get Aerith then I can bring her back home.' Zack sighs tiredly as he runs a hand through his black locks, 'If only it was easily done as said.'

He already realizes a couple of problems that he'll be facing. One of them being the fact he doesn't have a clue as to where the so-called terrorist group AVALANCHE is heading. Plus there's the fact he has no means of transportation, which will make it harder to catch the group since, from what he saw, has vehicles to help them in their travels. He'll have to try and find a way of transportation, besides walking. He figures the most logical place for him to head is Junon. That's really the only other place people go to on this continent.

At the sound of the loud 'Ding!' from the elevator, Zack is brought out of his thoughts. He steps onto the forty-seventh floor after the doors open up. His eyes glance around the entire floor, armor and weapons cover the walls. Guns the MPs use cover the entire west wall, while crates of countless ammunition are stored underneath them. Zack pays little attention to them as he passes them by, guns never were his type of weapon. Instead he walks to the back of the room, where several different swords are stored for the Third-Class SOLDIERs that guard the building. Zack stops in front of the rack holding the swords.

There really isn't much of a choice to pick between, all the swords were the Hardedge type. Reaching over to one of the Hardedges, Zack picks one up with one hand. Zack gives a surprised shout as the weight of the sword causes him to lean the top of it to the ground. He picks it up with both his hands, still finding it a bit heavy. He had forgotten that the Hardedge is a much heavier sword than his Buster Sword, with the difference between the weights and the fact he's still a bit weak from being bedridden for so long, it's no surprise he isn't able to wield the Hardedge as efficiently as the Buster Sword.

Nevertheless, he doesn't have much choice in the matter, it's either this or the MP's standard issued rifle. He is not about to go about using a gun. The First-Class SOLDIER takes the sheath that come with the sword off of the rack. Strapping it to his back, Zack sheath the Hardedge, the familiarity of having the extra weight at his back giving him a strange comfort. Perhaps he feels more secure now that he has a weapon with him. 'Maybe I should take some sort of armor while I'm here.' He thinks to himself.

He makes his way over to the side of the room where the armor is kept. For a moment he just stands there starring at the different armlets. He could take a Mythril Armlet, Carbon Armlet, Four Slots armlet, or a standard issued Shin-Ra Armlet. Crossing his arms over his chest, he begins tapping his right foot while he thinks of his choices. Shrugging uncaringly, he just decides to take the issued Shin-Ra Armlet, something he's most familiar with. Now that he has everything that he needs, he decides to make his way out of the building. Before he even makes a single move, he hears several clicking noises. Turning around slowly to see what's making the noise, he can't help himself from raising an eyebrow at the dozen MPs behind him, aiming their rifles straight towards him.

Zack scratches the back of his head, a bit confused, "I thought we already fixed this misunderstanding?"

"We did... but a new one has come up." A voice in the group of MPs comes out. The MPs break apart to let their commander walk through. Locke stops in front of the group of MPs. "The problem being that you sir, are not part of SOLDIER!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The man who was in SOLDIER that went by the name, Zack Buster, died five years ago at Nibelheim." Locke lifts a hand up and points at him, "You sir, are an imposter. You use the name of one of our best to sneak in to our building."

"But I am Zack Buster!" Zack exclaims.

Locke crosses his arms, a small visible smirk gracing his lips, "Do you have proof? ID? Anything?"

Zack scratches the back of his head, "Well... no."

"Grab him and throw him in the cells." Locke orders.

Zack watches the two MPs that advance on him, their rifles never leaving their mark. Once they reach him, they release their rifles to grab each of his arms. Zack glances back to Locke noticing the smirk still across the commander's face. The two MPs pull his arms back, getting ready to place handcuffs on him. Zack closes his eyes, 'How do I get myself into these messes?' He asks himself.

Just before they snap on the handcuffs on him, Zack grabs hold of each of their hands and gives a hard jerk, slamming the two MPs into each other. The commander gives the command to fire. As a rain of bullets are released, Zack leaps behind one of the crates to get out of the open. Splinters of wood shatter all over as the MPs release their power on the crate he's hiding behind. 'Well... this isn't exactly good.' Zack thinks to himself. His gaze lands on a small open crate of grenades next to the large crate he's hiding behind. Reaching over, he grabs hold of a hand grenade and pulls out the pin before tossing it over his head. A loud chorus of shouts fill the room just before there's a small explosion.

All is silent; Zack remains in his hiding place for moment, waiting for any sound. When all seems to be safe, he leans over to peek out of the side of the crate. The MPs and commander are all laying across the ground, unmoving. Zack's about to come out of his hiding place when the MPs slowly pull themselves to their feet, and continue their assault on Zack's crate. "Surrender and we'll let you live!" Locke shouts over the guns. 'Damn...' Zack looks back to the small crate of grenades, 'Hmm...' Slowly a smirk plays across his face as a new idea forms in his head. It may be a suicide idea, but right now, it's the best bet he's got. Zack grabs hold of the small crate of grenades and pulls it over to him. He pulls out a single grenade and places it on the floor before he picks the crate up.

Zack turns around to face his crate, and gets to his feet, but remaining low enough so he doesn't get his head blown off. 'One.... Two.... Three!' Zack chucks the small crate of grenades over his hiding place. It crashes onto the ground and grenades shatter about the ground. The firing seizes as the MPs get lost in a sense of confusion. Zack picks his grenade back up and stands up, raising towards the end of the room. The commander orders them to start firing again. Zack pulls the pin out of his grenade and as he lunges behind another crate, he hurls the grenade towards the group of MPs.

Locke eyes watch as the grenade flies through the air, heading towards them. "Shit." He curses. Without wasting another second, Locke turns around and begins running towards the elevator to try to get away from the explosion. The grenade Zack threw explodes, and as a chain reaction, it causes all the other grenades that are scattered across the ground to also explode. Locke feels himself being lift off his feet and literally thrown into the elevator by the force of all the explosion. He hits the wall and falls limp to the ground.

Zack lifts his head out of the protection of his arms. Slowly, he gets to his feet to see the damage he caused. For a long moment, Zack can do nothing but stare at the bodies scattered across the room. The MPs are completely wiped out. Blood covers the walls where several bodies were thrown against. Two or three bodies were blown in half by the explosion, parts of human flesh hang on the crates. And a large pool of blood covers the floor where the MPs were all standing. Needless to say, they're all dead.

Zack hangs his head in shame. He didn't want to kill them, but it was a battle, each side being fought by professional soldiers. Each side knew exactly the prize for failure. Zack closes his eyes for a moment of silence. These were men who, at one time, were his allies, and he had just killed them. Shaking his head at the thought, Zack begins making his way towards the elevator. As he gets closer to the elevator he hears someone give a moan in pain. He stops at the elevator and stares down at Locke who's clutching his injured side. "Damnit." Locke curses as he notices Zack, "How the hell are you alive? You were dead out on that cliff!" He winces from the pain in his side.

Zack tilts his head to the side in question, "How do you know that?" He asks in wonderment.

Despite his condition, Locke can't help but smirk, "Because I was one of the soldiers who ambushed you and your friend after we tracked the two of you all the way from Nibelheim."

"I see..." 'I guess Cloud didn't go to revenge me after all. Or he did but lost track of them.' Zack thinks to himself before walking over and grabbing one of Locke's legs, "Well if you don't mind, I got some business to take care of." He says as he drags Locke out of the elevator, leaving a trail of blood behind him. When he gets Locke out of the elevator he walks back to it and pushes button to make the elevator go down.

Locke pushes himself onto his elbows and glares at Zack as the elevator doors begin to close. "Don't think this is finished. I'll track you down again. And next time I won't lose." His threat however, is unheard since he was unable to finish before the doors close, leaving his threat to be only heard by the corpses of his men.

------

Zack pays little attention to the landscape around him as he rides through the plains crazily on his bike. He had managed to steal a motorcycle from Shin-Ra HQ's basement parking. He first dropped my Aerith's house to explain to Elmyra the situation. He was held back two days from starting his journey by Elmyra. She had made him rest for two days and collect supplies for the journey ahead. At first he didn't want to, but them he saw the intelligence in stocking up supplies. Elmyra was nice enough to lend him a few Gil to buy some medicines. He managed to get two materia with the leftover money.

Now he's on a straight shot to Junon. Having the motorcycle made it possible to get through the marshes without the danger of running into a Midgar Zolom. At first, he was shocked to see a dead Midgar Zolom outside of the marshes. He figured the group AVALANCHE had managed to defeat it with their combined strength since there isn't a man alive who could take one on by himself. He doesn't even have a chance against one of those beast one his own.

The only man who was ever able to kill one in a lone battle was the Great General, Sephiroth. But he's dead now, so Zack doesn't have to worry about him. He was chucked into the bottom of the Nibelheim reactor by Cloud. And yet, even though he knows Sephiroth is dead, he can't help but feel, uneasy at the thought of the man. Lately he's been thinking a lot of the former SOLDIER, he can't explain it. It's like something is telling him that Sephiroth is alive. Of course, Zack knows better than to actually believe such foolish thoughts. Time and time again he tells himself, 'Sephiroth is dead. He's no longer a threat.'

Going through the Marshes was easy, but going through the Mythril caves was a bit more of a hassle. At the end of the cave he had to lift his bike over the ledge in order to proceed. But now that he's out of the caves, he has no more obstacles between himself and Junon. He only glances briefly towards Fort Condor, taking in the strange sight of a large condor perched on top of the reactor.

As he pressing on, Zack sees a forest coming up into his sights. He only gives it a thought for a few moments before deciding to drive through it, instead of driving around it. Driving around it would cause him to lose more time, and if he wastes anymore time he may not catch AVALANCHE at Junon before the transport ship leaves for the day.

Zack keeps his momentum at a safe speed, so he can steer around the trees and bushes. His sharp mako blue eyes remained locked out in front of him. And yet, with all his attention on the path in front of him, he couldn't notice the trip wire tied between two trees until it's too late. He drives through the trip wire, not a second after he broke the wire was there a loud audible 'crack!' Followed closely by a large log being swung down by two ropes, effectively knocking Zack right off his bike. The bike crashes into a tree, getting totaled, while Zack's body slides across the ground until he hits another wire. He soon finds himself hanging in the air, caught in a large net.

Zack hung silently in the net for a few moments. He thought about the traps. Someone obviously took a lot of time in placing them and planning them out. Whoever did this is definitely one crafty person. "Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!" Zack glances around as he hears laughter fill the air. The leaves in the tree Zack is hanging from begins to ruffle. The next thing he knows, he's starring face to face with a girl who's hanging upside down, her legs wrapped around the branch. Her stormy gray eyes filled with amusement as a well placed smirk is across her face, "You've just been captured by the Great Ninja Yuffie!" The girl announces, her voice filled with pride. "If you wish to get down, it's gunna cost ya!"

Zack readjusts himself in the net, trying to find a more comfortable position. He brushes his hair out of his eyes as he stares at the girl hanging from the branch, 'She can't be any older than fifteen or sixteen... Seventeen at the oldest.' He thinks a bit surprised. "Can you let me down now? I'm not in the mood for games."

Yuffie, 'The Great Ninja,' as she calls herself, crosses her arms over her chest as her eyes narrow into slits, "I ain't messing around mister. It's gunna cost ya if ya want to get down."

Zack sighs tiredly, "I don't have any money. Just let me down." After a pause Zack adds, "Please."

Yuffie's eyes widen a bit in surprise, she completely forgets she's hanging on a branch, letting her feet release their hold, causing her to fall to the ground in a loud thump. "Oww..." She mutters as she picks herself up from the ground. Or more specifically, jumps to her feet and stares back up at Zack wide eyed. "It's you!" She exclaims pointing a finger at him, as if excusing him of something.

Zack blinks in confusion, not understanding what has gotten into the girl all of a sudden. "Uh... Rrright." He decides not to ask. "Look.. are you going to let me down or not?" He asks a bit in annoyance as his patience grows thin.

Yuffie places her hands on her hips and lifts her chin up, "No!" She replies snappishly.

Zack sighs, "Fine.. I'll get down myself." He mutters to himself.

"Eh?"

Zack reaches for the hilt of the Hardedge from it's sheath. He yanks the Hardedge out of it's sheath quickly, using the momentum to slash the net open, freeing himself from the trap as he lands on his feet on the ground. Making Yuffie jump back in surprise. "Dang!" The ninja recovers from her surprise quickly as she grabs hold of a strange weapon that was hanging at her waist. A four-point shuriken. Zack had never actually seen one used before. Now the question is what she's planning on doing with the weapon. He doesn't have to wait long for the answer to that. The sight of the shuriken spiraling through the air, heading straight for his head, is the only answer he needs.

Okay... so I lied... Yuffie makes her appearance in this chapter. Actually I wasn't planning on bringing her up in this chapter but I wrote more than I originally planned. (Shrugs) Oh well. That doesn't really bother anyone, does it? If it does let me know when y'all good ole folks leave me a review. Alrighty? Oh...Can anyone guess where I got the idea for the MP's commander? If your a Final Fantasy fan it shouldn't be hard lol. TTNC!


	4. Never Underestimate A Ninja

Yuffie- Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk! Alright everyone! Place your bets! Who will win! Me, The Great Ninja Yuffie. Or... Mako man, Zack?

Zack- Mako man?

Yuffie- Heeheehee!

Zack- You know you're going to lose.

Disclaimer- I don't own Final Fantasy 7, but if I could own it, I'd make a few changes, one being to have Zack as an optional character at least, another one being to give us more of a back story on the mysterious SOLDIER who played an important role in our hero's life. heeheehee.

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Never Underestimate A Ninja

Everything in the forest seems to fall into silence as Zack stares at the oncoming shuriken. For a brief moment he tries to picture what he'd look like without his head, because that's what he'll lose if the weapon does slice through his neck. But luckily for Zack, past years of training in SOLDIER have really honed his reflexes. Simply ducking out of the way is practically all instincts on his part. He watches as the shuriken swings around like a boomerang to return to its handler. Once it appears he's out of danger for a moment, he straightens himself back up, "Why did you attack me?"

Yuffie for her part, gives him a smirk, "Gimme your materia and I'll let you go."

Zack blinks, a bit caught off guard, "What? My materia? I'm not going to give you my materia!"

Yuffie shrugs her shoulders uncaringly, "Then I'll pry them from your lifeless finger's once I finished with you." With that said, she launches her four point shuriken back at Zack. The Ex-SOLDIER takes a step back, giving himself a better center of balance. He watches the shuriken as he draws back his Hardedge. Estimating the flying projectile's speed, he swipes at it with the Hardedge, deflecting it off to the side. "Wah!?" Yuffie recovers quickly from her surprise as Zack charges towards her. Again she smirks at him, and easily avoids his strike. Running back over to her fallen shuriken, she picks it back up and sends it flying back over to Zack, along with several small ninja stars.

Zack ducks under the shuriken again and immediately spins around a tree. He hears several dull thumping noises as the small sharp ninja blades sink into the bark of the tree. 'Man... I'm too slow to hit her.' He thinks to himself, 'Need some sort of strategy.' Peeking around the tree, he finds that Yuffie is gone. His brows lower in confusion as he cautiously steps out from his hiding place. His mako blue eyes dark to all directions in the forest, knowing that the ninja could be hiding anywhere.

Zack stops where he's standing, and strains his ears to pick up any sort of noise besides the local wildlife. He knows he's fighting at a disadvantage right now, the girl is using the forest to his advantage. He knows that she's most likely used to fighting in the forest, sneaking up on her opponents and attacking them from their blind spots.

Zack hisses in pain as he kneels down, the Hardedge clattering on the ground. He glances over his shoulder to see the back of his leg where a single small ninja star is firming set into his flesh. Grinding his teeth to stop himself from shouting, he yanks the ninja star out of his leg in one quick pull. He can feel the blood running down his leg as he stares at the ninja star in his hand. He tosses it to the ground in frustration, 'Man I'm off, I didn't even hear that one coming.'

Zack's eyes widen a bit. He quickly grabs his weapon and rolls off to the side, just in time to dodge the shuriken. He quickly gets to his feet and watches the shuriken as it heads back up to it's handler. His faze stops on Yuffie as she catches her weapon with ease. She stares down at him from her branch, her confident smirk still across her face, "What's the matter? Can't keep track of me? Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!"

Zack glances around the area for a few seconds, 'Hmm... Which way is the... ah ha!' Zack sheathes his Hardedge and grins up at Yuffie. "You're pretty good. I'll admit. But you still could learn a thing or two about combat."

"Ha! You're just mad because you know you can't win!" Yuffie exclaims cockishly. She points a finger down at him, "After all, who's the one losing this fight? I'll have your materia one way or another!" Yuffie places her hands on her hips as she throws her head back and laughs. When she stops laughing she glances back down to her opponent, only to have a small rock hit her square in the nose. She lets out a small shout of pain before placing a hand on her nose.

Zack grins from his spot on the ground as he juggles another rock in his hand. "Here's a tip for ya. Never let your guard down. Your first mistake was revealing your position to me. Your second one was taunting your opponent when you should be attacking."

Yuffie growls in annoyance as she nurses her hurt nose, "Shut up Jerk! That was a cheap shot! You're not suppose to throw rocks at me!"

Zack chuckles a bit at Yuffie, "Ah... but a fighter is suppose to use anything necessary during a battle in order to win a fight. But you're just a kid, so I wouldn't expect you to know that."

"What did you call me!?" Yuffie demands, her face turning red in her rage.

'That's it...' Zack thinks to himself as he shrugs his shoulders, "A kid. I mean you're what? Fourteen?"

"I'm sixteen you jackass!" Yuffie corrects.

"Sixteen?" Zack says, honestly surprised. He scratches the back of his head as he laughs a bit, "Wow... fooled me. I could of sworn you were fourteen. I mean, you're so scrawny!" Zack continues to laugh.

"Why you!" Yuffie shakes her fist in anger, her stormy gray eyes ablaze in fury, "You'll regret that!" She sends a swarm of ninja stars towards Zack. The Ex-SOLDIER quickly dashes off into the thick forest. "Get back here and fight like a man!" Yuffie shouts as she leaps to a nearby tree, chasing after him.

She'll make him pay, if it's the last thing she does. If it's one thing Yuffie can't stand, it's being referred to as a child. She is NOT a child. She's traveling around on her own for two years now. She can take care of herself, unlike most people her age. 'Grr... See if I ever save his dieing ass again.' Yes Yuffie had in fact been the one to help him when he was laying outside of Midgar, practically dead. It only took her a single moment to recognize him. It'd be hard to forget someone like him.

Although she has to admit, he seems a bit more lean than she remembers. She guesses he was bedridden for awhile, because she distinctively remembers him having more muscle. She isn't mistaken either, she honestly had the time to notice such things when dragging his body over a mile to the nearest hospital in Midgar. She wasn't really going to kill him in this fight, she was mainly going to mess with him until he gave her his materia. Now, grinding her teeth she can't wait to get her hands on him. 'No more games. He's dead meat! No one insults The Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi, and lives!'

Yuffie stops on her current branch and looks around the forest floor. 'Where'd he go?' She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she forgot to watch him, now she can't find him. 'Drat!'

Yuffie leaps down to the forest floor and continues walking, keeping her eyes peeled for a certain black spiky-haired man. Yuffie freezes in her place as her ears pick up something that sounds suspiciously like a propeller. She quickly turns around and gives a loud squeak before ducking under the flying Hardedge. She feels a gush of wind as the sword passes above her, then she hears the sound of splitting wood and a tree trembling. Standing to her feet, Yuffie clutches her chest, her heartbeat having suddenly sky rocketed. Glancing over her shoulder, she stares wide-eyed at the sword that's imbed deeply into a large tree. She could of ended up like the tree, the thought causes her to pale a bit and shudder at the thought.

"Hey!" Yuffie hears someone shout. She quickly reverts her attention back in front of her, and steps back in surprise just before Zack tackles her, causing both of them to tumble about the ground. Yuffie let's out a loud 'Oof!' as she lands on her back. Opening her eyes, she blinks a bit as she finds herself starring into a pair of blue ones that seem to glow. It's only than that she realizes her opponent is on top of her, pinning her hands to the ground. She lowers her head to try and hide the growing blush behind her bangs. Zack only grins down at her, "You need to keep yourself guarded." He comments.

Yuffie gives a frustrated growl, "Guard this!" She drives her knee straight up between the man's legs.

For a brief second, all Zack could see is white, as his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. After the initial shock wore off, in a miraculous point five seconds, Zack let's out a howl of pain as he curls up in a fetal position, off to the side, with his hands immediately going to his groin. "Ah... shit... cheap shot!" Zack manages to say between clenched teeth.

Yuffie uses this opportunity to pick herself off the ground. She smirks down at him as she stands triumphantly, her hands placed firmly on her waist, "That's what happens when you mess with a ninja! Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!"

Zack's eyes narrow as Yuffie laughs at him. 'She never learns does she?' With a quick swift kick, Zack kicks Yuffie straight off her feet, making her land flat on her back, effectively knocking the wind out of her.

Yuffie just lays there, blinking up towards the treetops as she tries to figure out, what exactly just happened. Growling a bit, Yuffie jumps to her feet, pulling her four-point shuriken from her waist and turns around to throw it. Only to find that Zack is gone. She quickly glances around and spots him trying to yank his sword free from the tree. She pulls her arm back and with all the force she can muster, sends the shuriken careening towards Zack. Zack effectively dodges it, but only by accident. As he pulled his sword free of the tree, he fell backwards, letting the shuriken deflect off the tree back towards Yuffie. Zack gives one looks towards Yuffie and takes off running again through the forest.

"Grr.... You won't get away!" Yuffie shouts as she once again gives chase after him. She slashes at branches and bushes that block her path as she runs through the forest. She can feel sweat run down her brow from all the fighting, her breathing becomes labored as the late afternoon heat begins to affect her. Even in the forest, where she's sheltered from the scorching hot sun, it feels like it's a hundred degrees out. Yuffie skids to a halt as she runs out of the forest and into the plains. Twenty feet ahead of her she sees Zack, who's obviously reached a dead end as he stares down at the rushing river.

Yuffie takes a moment to catch her breath, a smile begins to form on across her lips, 'Now he has no where to go! His materia is as good as mine!' She watches as Zack shakes his head before turning around to face her. That's when she makes her move. Acting quickly, she hurls her shuriken with all her might at her opponent, catching him off guard. Zack holds his Hardedge out in front of him, using it as a shield against the projectile. The shuriken crashes into the sword, causing Zack to stumble back where he tries desperately to regain his balance so he doesn't fall into the river. However, his efforts are in vain as he crashes into the rushing water behind him.

Yuffie catches her shuriken and immediately runs over to the river's edge. She leads onto a stepping stone a few feet out into the river and holds her shuriken up, ready to strike once she catches sight of her opponent. "Come on, you can't hold your breath forever!" She shouts at the river. Her eyes dart across the surface of the river, hoping to see any trace of the swordsman. All she can see is the rapids on the surface of the water. 'Come on... If you sunk to the bottom and died how am I suppose to get the materia?' A minute passes by, and Yuffie begins to think that just maybe, the man had in fact drowned. She her arm holding up her shuriken lowers to her side as she squats down to try and get a closer look into the water.

The next thing that happen seemed like all a blur to Yuffie. Zack bursts through the surface of the water right in front of Yuffie, scarring the living daylights out of her. Zack uses her momentary shock to grab one of her arms and pull her into the river with him, receiving a loud cry of protest from the female ninja. Zack dunks Yuffie under the water, while all Yuffie can do is flail her arms about, "You give up?" Zack asks laughingly. Yuffie tries saying something as she spits out water. "What was that?"

"I said I can't swim!" Yuffie shouts as she splashes about. Zack blinks for a few moments, and then bursts out laughing. Yuffie thrashes out to grab hold of him, managing to keep her head about the water. Her face twists into a scowl as Zack continues to laugh, "Quit laughing you idiot! And get me out of here?"

"And how do I know that you're not going to attack me again once your on shore?" He asks, still laughing a bit.

"I never said I wouldn't, now did I?" Yuffie gives a surprise yelp as Zack dunks underwater, bringing the ninja under with him. A moment later he breaks the surface again, with Yuffie's arms firmly around his neck as she coughs and chokes. ! Hack!... do that!"

Zack only chuckles in reply as he slowly swims his way back towards the river bank. Yuffie collapses onto the ground, glad to be on land once again. She hears the sound of metal grinding form above her. Turning onto her back, she finds the face to face with the Hardedge. "Do you give up now?"

Yuffie groans in disappointment, "I can't believe I lost."

Zack sheathes the sword, "Can't win them all." He says before walking away.

Yuffie immediately sits up, "Where you going?"

Zack stops and looks over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow, "I happen to be in a hurry. And I'll probably need to get stitches put in my leg thanks to you."

"Yeah well.. you almost impaled me with your stupid sword back in the forest, and then you tried to kill me!" Yuffie says trying to defend herself.

Zack shrugs his shoulders uncaringly, "You attacked first." He points out. Yuffie opens and closes her mouth, not able to form a comeback. "Well anyways, it was... interesting meeting you. But I need to get to Junon. So if you'll excuse me."

"Junon? You're going to Junon?" Yuffie immediately asks, suddenly interested.

"Uh.. yeah. Why?" Zack turns around and crosses his arms over his chest as he waits for her reply.

Yuffie jumps to her feet and shakes her head rapidly, trying to get the water out of her hair. Once it appears like she can't get anymore water out of her hair without using a towel, she answers his question, "Well... you won't be able to get into Junon. There's a parade sort of thing to celebrate the new president of Shin-Ra occurring tomorrow."

"What? Parade? New President? What happened to President Shin-Ra?" Zack immediately asks, not fully understanding.

Yuffie's brows raise in surprise, "Where the hell you been? Living in a cave? He was assassinated. His son Rufus Shin-Ra is now the president. The entrance to Junon is being guarded. They won't let anyone in without authorization because of the stupid parade."

Zack groans in frustration as he falls back on his rear. "Jus' great! When I think I can catch them, I find another obstacle in my way." He lets out a depressed sigh before running a hand through his soaking wet hair.

"Hey no worries! I can sneak us in!" Yuffie exclaims confidently.

Zack back tracks a moment, "Wait, 'us?' What do you mean by 'us?'"

The ninja rolls her stormy gray eyes at him, "Duh! You and me."

"And why would you want to help me? You wanted to kill me just a few minutes ago." Zack points out.

"Nah... I was only playing with you. I wouldn't have really killed you." Zack gives her a skeptical look. "Really!" No reply. "Do I look like I would actually kill someone."

"...No.. No I guess not. But how could you sneak into Junon?"

"I have my ways, Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!"

Zack, for some reason or another, suddenly felt unnerved by the girls laugh. "Rrright. Junon, isn't far. So let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can find the people I'm looking for and get rid of you." He says before walking in the direction of Junon.

"Hey! Wait! You never told me your name! Mine is Yuffie! Nice to meet'Cha!" Yuffie watches as the man continues to walk away, obviously not paying her much attention. 'Now all I need to do is get him into Junon and then wait for my chance to snatch up his materia.' "Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!" Yuffie blinks as she realizes he isn't going to wait up for her. "Hey wait up willya!" She runs after him.

------

Zack sigh for what seems like the hundredth time. Junon was a bit further than he thought. Okay, scratch that, it was A LOT further away than he thought. And what's worse is that it started raining, preventing his clothes from becoming dry. But worst of all had to be his temporary traveling companion. For the past hour and half he's had to listen to the so-called 'Greatest Ninja' complain about being cold and wet. Which is odd, in Zack's opinion, because someone who claims to have been living out of towns for so long should be used to the rain and cold night air by now.

Zack is not at all an impatient man, but when he has to listen to her whine and complain for almost two hours straight, mixed with the continued pain in his leg with each step he takes, it begins to get on his nerves. So it doesn't come as a surprise when he finds himself turning around and snapping at the ninja, "Can't you be quiet for at least five minutes!?"

Yuffie crosses her arms and scowls, "Well, I'm cold. And I'm wet. And I'm hungry! And I'm cold!" She continues to complain.

"You said that already!" He says, clearly annoyed. He continues walking, sighing in relief when he sees Junon come into view. Just the thought of getting out of the rain, and maybe get some sleep is enough to quicken his pace. That and the fact that Yuffie began complaining about the rain once again. He finds himself walking in to the entrance of Junon, no less than five minutes later. He looks around the rundown town before glancing over to the elevator where a guard stands watch. He turns around to speak to Yuffie, "Okay, we're hear. So how are you sneaking us in?"

The scowl on Yuffie's face never disappears. She's obviously too tired and too miserable to do much more than scowl at the moment. "It's very simple. Just stand here and watch." She commands before walking towards the elevator.

Zack stands there silently as he watches Yuffie stop in front of the guard at the elevator. He sees her speaking to the guard, and watches as the guard shakes his head at something Yuffie asked. The next thing that Zack notices is the guard sprawled across the ground, obviously unconscious. Yuffie turns away from the elevator to look over to him, "Ok, all clear." She calls out.

Zack smacks himself in the forehead and shakes his head in disbelief as he walks towards her, "That was your plan? I could of done that myself!"

"Well I'm too tired, too hungry, and too pissed at the moment to think of some stealthy way of getting in. So just shut up and deal with it. All I want now is a warm bed and some food." Yuffie snaps before turning around and walking onto the elevator.

'Geez... Scare-ee.' Zack thinks to himself before walking onto the elevator as well. The elevator gives a jolt before it begins moving to the upper level of Junon. Fortunately, they were momentarily out of the rain. Zack watched the water drip from his long hair and from the tip of his nose. When the elevator opens up after reaching the upper level, the two waste no time in walking out to the streets of Junon, back into the rain, to find the local inn. "This may not be a good time to mention this." Zack begins as they continue walking, "But I don't have any money."

Yuffie stops in her tracks and closes her eyes, trying to calm herself before she does anything hectic. After letting out a long breath, she continues walking, leaving Zack to stand alone for a few seconds before he jogs to catch up with her.

Yuffie glances around the inn as they walk in, suddenly feeling self conscious. A group of guys talking in the corner shoot disgusted looks towards the two travelers. Yuffie tries her hardest to make it look like she hasn't noticed them. She can only guess what she looks like by the glances everybody is giving them. And she suddenly becomes aware of the fact that she hasn't bathed for quite some time.

Yuffie pulls her shorts up higher as she tries to force down the embarrassing blush that's spreading across her face. She gives a brief glance towards Zack to see him perfectly calm about the situation, 'Great... Here I am standing in the inn, completely drenched to the bone, with some weirdo, looking completely like an idiot!' Yuffie stops in front of the counter and bangs a fist on it to get the employee's attention, "We need a room!" She announces loudly, emitting a few chuckles from the small group of guys in the corner.

Yuffie's cheeks puff up and her face turns red as she realizes what everyone must think right now. Glancing over to Zack, she notices he's trying his hardest not to start laughing, she just sends a glare towards him before turning back the inn keeper. "Well? You got any rooms?"

The inn keeper gives a startled jump, before he nervously types away on his computer, keeping a weary eye on Zack's sword, "Uh... yes.. You're luck miss. We have one room with a nice warm..." He glances up at the two travelers briefly, "And dry bed."

"What? One bed?" Yuffie repeats questioningly.

"Um.. yes. Is there a problem?"

"I demand that there be two beds! There's no way and hell I'm sharing a bed with him!" Yuffie points a finger at Zack, causing the swordsman to raise an eyebrow at her, he remains quiet however.

The inn keeper blushes a bit embarrassed, "Oh.. I'm sorry.. I thought you too were...Ahem.." He trails off.

Yuffie gives a shudder, disgusted by the one tracked minds of Junon, "Well you thought wrong bud, now how about the other bed?"

The inn keeper begins typing away on the computer once again, "We'll bring another one up to the room. It's room B-13" He announces. "That'll be two hundred Gil please."

Yuffie shoots a look back over to Zack, her eyes narrowing a bit. All he does is shrug his shoulders. Yuffie mutters a few incoherent words before digging into her pockets to pull out the cost of the night. After placing the money on the counter she turns away to head up towards the stairs, with Zack in tow. Her eyes dart across the inn as she notices everyone is watching them. Getting to the top of the stairs she turns around to look down to the lobby, with an angry scowl across her face she shouts out, "Yes everybody! The two wet freak shows are leaving the lobby. Now you can go about your damn business of sticking your thumbs up your ass!"

Zack slaps his forehead and shakes his head, feeling a bit embarrassed about the situation. He was well aware of the stares everyone was directing to them, but he didn't need her to go and snap at all of the people in the inn, further making them look like fools. He silently follows Yuffie as she makes her way towards the room, keeping his gaze directed to the floor boards. He'll feel much happier once he gets into the room and out of the public eye.

Zack waits behind Yuffie as she unlocks the door, after having some difficulty with the keyhole. Walking into the room, Zack glances around, looking for the light switch. Finding it on the wall a few feet to his side, he flicks it on and looks across the room where another door lies. 'A shower does seem like a good idea.' He thinks to himself before heading towards it.

Not two feet away from it does Yuffie cut him off, "Nah-uh bud. I paid, so I get the bathroom first!" She says before walking into the bathroom, making sure to slam the door in Zack's face.

The swordsman runs a hand through his long black spiky hair as he lets out a sigh. Shaking his head, he walks over to the only bed in the room and falls back on it, not caring about the fact his clothes are soaked and wet. 'Should of seen that coming.' He thinks to himself before folding his arms under his head as he stares blankly up at the ceiling. 'What a weird girl. Strange accent too. I wonder where she's from, definitely not this continent. Hmm... I'm going to have to find a way to cross the ocean. But I don't have any money. I wonder if my account at the bank is still opened. Doubtful.. but you never know. I can't get very far without any Gil in my pocket.'

Zack rolls his eyes as he hears the young ninja scream at the 'Evil shampoo bottle,' as she so called it for falling onto her toe. 'Man am I happy that she'll be out of my hair tomorrow.' The thought brings some sort of relief to him. He doesn't know how anyone could put up with someone so annoying. Than again, maybe no one can and that's why she's living out on her own. That or there's a price on her head, Zack wouldn't be surprised, she tried to steal his materia after all.

With a quick hop, Zack is standing on the floor, "Guess I can at least go and find out whether I have money or not." A plus side to leaving the inn for now is he'll be away from the ninja and her signing, it's pretty apparent to Zack that she's never had a signing lesson in her life. Silently leaving the room, Zack walks back down to the lobby. As he passes the front counter, a thought crosses his mind, making him turn around to speak with the innkeeper.

"Yes? May I help you sir?"

Zack scratches the back of his head as he gives the inn keeper a sheepish grin, "Um.. by any chance. Has a man by the name Cloud Strife booked in tonight?"

After a few seconds of typing on the computer, the innkeeper replies, "No."

"Oh alright. Thanks anyways. Oh! And make sure you get that extra bed up there." Zack reminds him.

The innkeeper blinks a bit surprised for a moment, "You mean... you DO want another bed." Zack gives him a confused look, as if saying, Yeah, why? The innkeeper gives an embarrassed chuckle, "Oh pardon me sir. I thought the young lass was just joking because of all the people staring at you two."

Zack nearly falls to the ground in surprise, "What!? You mean you actually think that we're..." Zack shakes his head, "Never mind that... Just get the extra bed up there by the time I get back."

"Will do sir."

Zack shakes his head again before turning around and heading out of the inn. Really, a grown man such as himself with some teenager that's five years younger than himself. He swears, everyone's minds in Junon are lost in the gutters, and will never be found. Oh well, it can't be helped. Upon walking outside, Zack's relieved to find that it has stopped raining. Now the clouds just block out the moon, making the night darker than usual. So much that if it wasn't for the few working street lights, Zack would have walked straight into a pole. Luckily he doesn't have to travel far to get to an ATM, there's always one in a item shop, fortunately for him, the item shop in Junon is always opened.

After giving a short greeting to the large man behind the counter in the item shop, Zack walks over to the ATM and begins punching in his password to see if his account shows up. He almost dies of shock to see that it is, in fact, still open. Zack quickly withdraws the rest of the money in his account, ten thousand Gil. Now being a former First-Class SOLDIER, you'd expect his account to be flowing with cash. But what most people fail to do is take in account that in SOLIDER, you have to pay for food, lodging, equipment and repairs, and the company fines you whenever you break something, you fail a mission, or just do something that isn't very professional. So really, only the well disciplined SOLDIERs are the ones who get rich in the end. And Zack is anything but disciplined, he acts more foolish than professional.

Happy now that he has at least some money in his pocket now. He decides to head back towards the inn. Waving a short farewell to the owner of the item shop, Zack walks out onto the streets once more, and heads towards the inn. Suddenly, several blood curling screams fill the air, followed by gunshots. 'What the...' Zack sprints towards the other side of town where the gunshots seemed to have come from.

On his way there, the gunshots seize, and the only sound he hears is the sound of his own feet running across the streets. His heart begins to beat rapidly in his chest, fear slowly inches its way into his mind as he stops in front of an alley. For a moment or two, Zack does nothing besides squint into the dark alley, trying desperately to see anything other than darkness. His efforts prove in vain, after all, it's not like he has night vision or anything.

Reaching over his shoulder, Zack rests one of his shaking hands on the hilt of his Hardedge, before cautiously heading into the alley. He strains his ears to listen to anything in the alley besides his feet and surprisingly his heartbeat. Each step he takes brings him deeper into the darkness until he's so far in it that he can barely see ground. He has to place his free hand on the wall and drag it along as he's walking, to make sure he's going straight. He stops in his tracks as his hand runs along something wet on the wall. For a moment he stands there, wondering. He can't see whether it's just water or not, and he's rather not taste it to find out what it is.

He licks his lips nervously before he hesitantly traces the wet path downward with his hand, his mind screaming 'NO!' While his gut feeling is telling him to proceed. Zack's whole body goes completely numb as he hand lands on something soft, and slightly warm. It's a body. Zack quickly stands up straight and continues forward, this time a little bit quicker, with his hand tracing the wall. He stops again when his hand lands on a body, this one suspended in air. What surprised him more is the fact that the body is twitching, as if the brain has not yet realized the body has died, causing the limbs in the body to twitch.

Zack closes his eyes, even though he knows he can't see anything, as he tries to just brush his hand around the body. But an object obstructs his hand's path. Something bulging out of the body's chest. Swallowing hard, Zack wraps his hand on the cold thin metal, finding out that one side is sharp. 'It's a sword.' He thinks to himself. He runs his hand down the sword, shocked at the length of sword. 'This has to be at least five feet long, no... more considering it's driven through this body and into the wall.' Zack blinks in thought for a moment, 'I've never heard of a sword this big since...'

Zack releases the sword and backs away in fear. He quickly shakes his fears away, 'Don't be an idiot Zack, he's dead. You watched his body be thrown to the bottom of the reactor. 'Zack jumps back startled as a dull 'thump' sound echoes throughout the alley. Zack hears the sound of movement, not too far out in front of him. He takes a couple of uncertain steps back, unsure of what's in front of him. He can't see anything but he knows someone is there. But if he can't see them then they can't see him, right? So all he has to do is remain quiet. Zack raises his right hand to his temples and rubs them, trying to ward of the sudden throbbing pain in his head.

The sound of the large sword being ripped out of the wall followed by the body collapsing to the ground rings throughout the alley. The pain in his head only seems to worsen now. Zack ignores the pain for a moment as he hears footsteps. Footsteps that are growing louder as the person get closer to him. Zack's breath quickens as unexplainable fear takes over his mind, like a phobia. He can't remember the last time he's been this afraid, that's saying if he's ever. Zack begins to walk backwards as the handler of the sword scrapes his blade against the wall as he walks towards Zack.

The footsteps and the sound of metal grinding on stone seem to echo in Zack's mind. He can't seem to hear or notice anything else except for those two sounds. He can't even hear the fearful breaths he takes. The sounds only seem to get louder and louder, and the throbbing pain in his head seems to grow more and more. Then suddenly, when it seems like it can't get any louder, the noises seems to seize to exist. Zack stops as everything falls silent. The pain in his head seems to instantly disappear.

'I was just imagining things.' Zack tells himself. His shoulders drop and he bends his head down as he lets out a relieved breath. A burst of air flies over his head that instant, immediately followed immediately by a loud 'Clang!' as the large sword makes contact with the wall above Zack's head. "Holy crap!" Zack shouts in shock. He doesn't unsheathe his sword, he doesn't even bother to try and stay for a fight. No, instead he turns around and hightails himself out of there as quickly as he can.

He keeps going till he's back at the inn, and he doesn't even stop there, he runs pass the lobby counter, up the stairs, and pushes the door open quickly to see a half naked ninja standing in the middle of the room. Zack can't tell whether her face is red because she's embarrassed or because she's angry. Zack soon decides that she's not angry but rather pissed as she hurls a lamp at him, screaming at the top of her lungs for him to get out, which he gladly does.

Running out of the room he quickly shuts the door to protect him from any other flying objects that might be within the ninja's reach. Zack slides to the floor and leaning back against the door as he crosses his arms to wait for Yuffie to get properly covered before he decides to go back in. 'Geez... it's not my fault. Didn't anyone ever tell her not to walk around with just her underwear on?' Not that he was complaining, oh no he wasn't. He has to admit, for the cost of being hit by a lamp, the view was well worth it. Zack can only chuckle as he tries to think how embarrassed the girl in the room behind him must feel right now.

Whoa... o.O This is like the longest chapter I've written for this so far. Ten pages! Yeesh... It's friggen 3:45 in the effing morning! I go to school in three hours and I still have to do my homework. (Hit's himself in the head) Dumbass! Ya should of been doing you homework instead of doing this! (Shakes head) Anyways... I think I'm pleased with this chapter. The whole alley scene was my attempt at some horror that would make fear creep down your spine as you anxiously read on. Key word in that sentence was 'attempt.' It didn't make me afraid lol. So I doubt it didn't send chills down anyone else's spine. Easy to guess who was in the alley, eh? By the way... Just to let everyone know... I don't know how In- Character I'm in with Zack, because in the game you really don't have much to go on with Zack so I really don't know how he's like. I'm just making him how I see most fit for him, ya know?... I think I just confused some people, oh well! - Anways, Review everyone, reviews are my only source of joy at the moment. Having play rehearsal after school everyday, and then working all weekend gets to be exhausting, ya know? TTNC!


	5. Dreams, Parades, And Rumors

Hello, hello, hello! Hmm, hmm, hmm. Excited? I know I am! Hee! Hee! Hee! Waht will Zack have to go through now? Don't ask me I don't know... not yet at least. The ideas will just come to me. Well anyways... Oh wait! Before that! I'd like to agree to something that one of the reviewer's said. Kikyo's Killer, I agree, us guys are all perverts! But you know what? The world would be too boring without the crude humor we can make up, nay? Heh heh... Like this one! 'I got something in my pocket that belongs upon my face... A great big brownie smile!!' Oh wait... never mind.. I can't make jokes, damn...

Disclaimer- Cuz I got friends who told me once before that anything is possible if you really put your mind to it. So I own absolutely EVERYTHING I buy!... What? Did you think I'd say I own Final Fantasy 7? Well I don't... I didn't create it so... yeah

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Dreams, Parades, And Rumors

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"Do you really have to go?" The sixteen year old brunette sticks her bottom lip out in an attempt to pout her way to victory. "Why do you have to go, Zack?"

Zack gives the girl a apologetic smile as he scratches the back of his head uncomfortably, "I have to, Aerith. This is my first real mission since I made it to First Class."

"But what if... what if Shin-Ra comes after me again?" Aerith quickly says.

Zack rolls his eyes at the question, "Than you either run or fight. You can defend yourself now. Of course I'd rather be here to help you, but Shin-Ra would never intentionally harm you. But don't worry I'll be back before you know it!" Zack promises, giving his girlfriend a reassuring smile.

"What if you don't come back?"

"Aw come on! Do you honestly think I won't come back? I get to do a mission with General Sephiroth! There's no way I can be hurt with him around! He alone can defeat any monsters that might be dumb enough to try and attack us."

"You act like he's a god or something." Aerith mutters under her breath.

Zack heard her though, the comment causing him to laugh, "Well with the power he has, I wouldn't be surprised if he really is one! So there's no reason for you to worry about me."

Aerith crosses her arms and turns her head in a huff, "No one is invisible Zack. Even someone like Sephiroth can be brought down someway."

Zack's eyes widen in shock, "Don't say that! It's bad luck to say something like that to someone before a mission. What if something happens to him now?"

Aerith lets out a sigh, "Fine, Fine. I take it back." She lets her arms hang at her sides as she looks back at Zack, "So how long will you be gone anyway?"

Zack glances up thoughtfully as he tries to figure out an answer, "Well... It'll take about three days to get to Nibelheim, depending on how serious the situation is, I could be back in a few weeks." After his reply, Zack gives a wide grin, "Then when I get back, I'll go to the nearest jeweler store, buy an engagement ring and we'll get married!"

Aerith raises her eyebrows up in surprise, "And what makes you think I'll marry you?" She asks jokingly.

"My irresistible charm!" Zack exclaims confidently.

Aerith gives a soft giggle, "Please... you don't.. Ermph!" Aerith stands frozen to her spot, but only for a second before closing her eyes and returning the kiss, quickly snaking her arms behind the SOLDIER's neck.

Zack grins into the kiss as he holds Aerith closer to him. After another moment he breaks their kiss, resting his forehead against hers, grinning amusedly at the blush across Aerith's face, "See? my irresistible charm!" He chuckles a bit before pulling away a bit, "I really have to go."

Aerith lowers her gaze to the ground, "Goodbye, Zack."

"I'll see you soon." Zack promises before turning around and running quickly out of the garden in Aerith's back yard.

All around him the beautiful yellow flowers suddenly catch on fire, quickly burning to the ground. Not leaving a trace of their existence behind. Zack stops short, his eyes going wide as he looks around at all the burning buildings around him. 'What's going on?' He thinks to himself as he watches the item shop collapse from the fire. He stands in the center of Nibelheim looking around the burning town. His eyes land on one of the MPs that went with him on the mission. He quickly rushes to his side. Reaching the MPs side, Zack kneels down and begins shaking him, "Hey! Cloud, you okay man? Answer me."

The MP shakes turns his head from side to side, "My mother..." He coughs from the thick smoke.

Zack glances over to Cloud's burning house; already knowing, just by looking at the house, that Cloud's mother isn't alive. 'There's sill a small chance.' Zack thinks to himself before standing back up. He quickly runs into Cloud's house, the scorching hot flames try to reach out to him as he stops in the hallway, finding it impossible to get passed the fire, "Ms. Strife!" Zack shouts, not receiving a reply. He can feel his eyes begin to water from all the smoke. He begins coughing uncontrollably as the smoke enters his lungs, causing him to run back out. Once outside he glances back over to Cloud, to see him starring at him questioningly. Zack can only shake his head, crushing his friends hopes.

Zack's brows furrow in anger, "Sephiroth! This is too horrible!" He shouts.

****

Zack!

He hears several screams nearby, turning around he looks up the stairs towards the Shin-Ra mansion to see Sephiroth swiftly finish off another Nibelheim citizen. Sephiroth stares down at him, his mako emerald eyes filled with joy for what he has just done. Sephiroth turns around and slowly walks through the flames, heading towards the reactor.

****

Zack!

Zack swiftly makes his way to the Nibelheim Reactor, ready to get some answers from Sephiroth. He stops stunned as the female guide, Tifa, is brought down by Sephiroth's sword. He stares up at Sephiroth in shock, the general just turns around uncaringly before walking through the door with 'Jenova' inscribed on it. Zack balls up his fists before running up the steps and through the door, to see Sephiroth standing in front of a hideous creature that has some sort of metal object resting on it's head with several wires coming out of it, "Sephiroth!" Zack shouts.

****

Wake up, ya idiot!

Zack's eyes widen in surprise as Sephiroth seemingly glides down towards him, the Masamune drawn at his side. Zack reaches over his shoulder to unsheathe his Buster Sword. His hand comes up empty handed, causing him to look over his shoulder to see his sword gone. He turns his gaze back just in time to see the Masamune slashing down at him. Zack closes his eyes, accepting his fate.

****

GAWD! -SMACK!-

Zack's eyes shoot open once he's slapped in the face. He blinks a bit confused as he waits for his vision to adjust to the light. The first thing he notices is the loud music playing outside. The next thing he notices is the annoyed girl gazing down with him. "Uh... Good morning?" Zack says unsure.

"Good morning? Morning was two hours ago!" Yuffie exclaims.

The ninja puts her hands on her hips as Zack sits up and yawns. Zack gives a sideways glance towards Yuffie, really noticing her for the first time. His eyes scan down take in the site of the strange arm guard on her left arm, the unbuttoned kaki shorts, the short green turtle neck tank top, and the headband with the strange symbol on it she's wearing. The swordsman shakes himself out of his stare, "What's all that racket outside?"

Yuffie rolls her stormy gray eyes at him, "The parade, duh! I told ya they were having one to celebrate the new president. Turns out the town is actually quarantined until the parade is over. Only soldiers are allowed on the streets and the T.V. crew. Everyone's allowed out once the president leaves on the ship."

"But.. I need to get on the ship!" Zack exclaims as he jumps out of bed/ He runs over to the window to look out side to see that soldiers are standing in front of the entrance of the inn. Zack sighs as he leans his forehead against the glass, "Damn... I need to find a way to get on that ship." He mumbles to himself. "I wonder if there's a back exit." Zacks stands up straight, and turns around to head towards the door. He stops short and raises an eyebrow at Yuffie who has her back to him as she stares at the wall. "What are you-"

"Do ya mind getting dressed!" Yuffie cuts him off, her annoyance clear in her voice. She tries to keep her face from turning red as a summon materia. She can only handle so much.

Zack blinks in confusing before looking down at his choice of attire, red and white striped boxers. "Oh yeah.." He says just remember that he had gotten out of his wet clothes before going to sleep last night. He didn't want to end up getting sick so he put his wet clothes on the heater to dry while he slept in him boxers. He quickly grabs his clothes off the heater, happy to find that they are indeed dry. He dresses quickly. "Okay." He announces causing Yuffie to turn back around him. He steps up to her, "Well thanks for getting me into town. It was... interesting meeting you." He says holding out his hand for her to shake.

Yuffie stares down at his hand for a moment before raising an eyebrow at it. Lifting her gaze back up to Zack's she shakes her head, "Ya need to get on the ship right?" She asks suddenly. Zack slowly nods his head as he takes back his hand, "I happen to be going in the same direction so why don't we help each other?" Yuffie suggests, flashing him a smile.

Zack narrows his head slightly in suspicion, not sure if he fully trusts the ninja. She had attacked him in the forest after all. Giving a defeated breath, Zack shrugs his shoulders.

"Alrighty, then lets get on out of here!" Yuffie exclaims heading out of the room, 'Sucker.' Yuffie holds back her laugh as she steps out into the hallway, crossing to the other side. Walking up to one of the doors she knocks on it and waits to see if someone answers it. When she doesn't get an answer she begins picking the lock.

Zack scratches the back of his head, not sure what the ninja is doing, "What are you doing?" He asks confused.

'Oh for the love of Leviathan! This guy is dense.' Yuffie thinks to herself, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm picking the lock genius."

"I know _that._ But _why?_"

"The window in your room is above the front door. The window in this room will be to the back of the inn where we can get out sneak out from there." Yuffie explains.

"You mean jump down from two stories up!?" Zack asks, not too sure this is a good idea.

"That's the plan." Yuffie licks her lips in concentration, "There!" She turns the doorknob and opens the door. She turns around flashing Zack a triumphant grin, "Ha! These locks are nothing!"

Zack rolls his eyes at the ninja, "Gee... maybe you should go break open their safe before we leave too." He comments sarcastically.

Yuffie sucks in her lips trying to hold back her grin, "Anyways... go ahead." Yuffie says, holding the door open more.

Zack shakes his head as he walks into the room and heading towards the window. Behind him, he hears Yuffie close the door behind her as she enters. Zack opens the window open and glances outside into the alley down below. His eyes lock on a group of three soldiers, the one in the middle catching his interest more than the other two. Zack's eyes widen slightly as he recognizes the soldier in commander uniform. Zack quickly ducks as the man glances up in his direction. "It's Locke." Zack says more to himself. He only recognized the commander because he isn't wearing the mask MPs usually wear.

"Who?" Yuffie asks walking over to the window to glance out the window. Her brows furrow in confusion as she looks all around, "There isn't anyone here." She points out.

"What?" Zack stands back up and looks out the window. After a moment he scratches the back of his head, "Huh... maybe I was imagining things."

"Well. let's get moving then." Yuffie suggests before climbing out the window.

"You're not really going to just jump down are you?" Zack asks surprised.

Yuffie shakes her head in disbelief, deciding not to even bother answering the question before she leaps out of the window. Landing gracefully on the ground she glances back up to the window as Zack leans out to look down to the ground, "Don't be such a weenie and jump!" Yuffie shouts.

"Easy for you to say." Zack mutters to himself as he cautiously climbs out of the window. 'Okay... one...two...three!' Zack jumps out of the window. He lands on his feet but immediately falls backwards from landing off balance. He stands up, casually dusting himself off as he ignores Yuffie's laughter. "So what now?" Zack asks once Yuffie has stopped laughing at him. Yuffie merely shrugs her shoulders, having ran out of ideas. Zack gives a tired sigh before he begins making his way down the alley with Yuffie in tow.

Zack heads towards the main street, he ducks behind a dumpster when he notices several MPs standing around on the street. Yuffie quickly follow his example and hides behind the dumpster. Peeking around the dumpster, Zack listens to what the MPs are talking about. They all seem to be circling around one MP. Straining his ears to hear their voices, Zack listens in.

"That was close."

"Yeah... Heindegger has been on edge lately."

"A man in a black cape showed up recently, killing several of over men."

Zack blinks in surprise. The MP in the middle of the circle shrugs his shoulders questioningly, "Man in a black cape?"

"Rumor has it that the man is Sephiroth."

Zack jumps back in shock, knocking Yuffie down from her crouched position, 'Sephiroth!?' Zack begins taking labored breathes as fear seems to paralyze his entire being. Zack battles with his internal struggle to get control of himself, 'Relax... It's just a rumor. There have always been rumors about Sephiroth, there's bound to be some after his death.' Zack nods his head, agreeing with himself, 'Yeah... Sephiroth is dead, nothing to get worried over.' He hears the MPs walking away.

"Hey!" Zack's broke from his thoughts as he hears Yuffie's voice hissing at him. Looking down at what he's sitting on, Zack realizes that he's on top of a rather annoyed ninja. Scratching his head and giving a small chuckle, Zack quickly get off of her muttering a quiet apology. Yuffie grumbles as she stands up, dusting herself off.

"Who's that!" A passing MP sees Yuffie.

"EEP!" Yuffie ducks back behind the dumpster. She turns back over to Zack who's giving he a look that says, Way-To-Go. Yuffie gives a nervous laugh before looking over the side, "Crap! There's two of them heading our way." She whispers to Zack.

Zack grabs hold of the back of Yuffie's kaki shorts and pulls her back down before crawling to the end of the dumpster. He holds his finger to his lips, signaling Yuffie to be quiet. The female ninja nods her head dumbly. As quietly as possible, Zack unsheathes the Hardedge. He keeps his eyes trained at the end of the dumpster, keeping all his attention on listening to the two MP's footsteps. Yuffie ducks her head in her arms as Zack slashes out at the MPs. He successfully knocks both machineguns out of the two MP's hands, momentarily surprising them. Zack uses the moment of surprise to swing back around, hitting the MPs in the back of their heads with the blunt side of his sword. Both soldiers falls to the ground unconscious.

Yuffie jumps to her feet once she sees everything is safe again, "Well hell I could of done that!" She comments sounding unimpressed. Zack merely rolls his eyes at the girl before grabbing one of the MPs by the arm and dragging him behind the dumpster. "Uh.. what are you doing?" Yuffie asks confused.

"Can't leave them laying around in the open. If someone sees them then they'll know something's up and they'll boost security." Zack explains.

Yuffie raises an eyebrow at the Ex-SOLDIER, "Um... How much more could they boost security when there's soldiers walking around all over the damn place?"

"........." Zack pauses, not having thought of that. Zack shakes his head, "Better safe than sorry." He replies nonchalantly. After dragging the other soldier behind the dumpster, Zack turns back to the waiting ninja, "Look, we still need to find-"

"Huh? Who's there!?" Zack's mouth clamps shut as recognition flashes through his mind at the sound of the voice. Turning around slowly, Zack and Yuffie glance down the alley to see Locke with two other MPs staring at them. Upon recognizing Zack, Locke immediately points a finger towards him, "It's you!"

Zack slaps his forehead and shakes his head in disbelief, "Can't things ever work out for me?" He asks no one in particular.

Locke smirks as he walks towards the two, the two MPs following closely behind him. Stopping in front of the two, he glances over his shoulder at his two disciples, "Men you remember him don't you?"

The MP on the right gives a wicked laughter, "Isn't this guy suppose to be dead?"

The MP on the left shrugs his shoulders, "I Don't know Lenny. He looks alive to me."

The MP, known as Lenny, chuckles as he turns his attention towards Yuffie, "Oh look, Hervey, he's got a girl with him too!" Hervey joins Lenny in his chuckling.

Yuffie gets a little unnerved by the stares the two men are directing towards her. She turns her attention to Zack. Yuffie scratches the back of her head a bit nervously before saying, "Well, there obviously seems to be something between ya guys, so I'll just be heading on my way, "Yuffie points her thumb over her shoulder, "....and let ya guys settle things."

Lenny and Hervey begin advancing on the ninja, "Oh but stay. We can have some fun." Lenny replies. Yuffie doesn't even want to know what their definition of _fun_ is. She may be sixteen, but she's encountered quite a number of men who would want to do more with her than just chat.

Lenny and Hervey stop in their tracks when Zack lowers his sword in front of Yuffie, blocking their path, "You won't go near her. I'm the one you're after."

Hervey glances over his shoulder to look over to Locke, "Uh, Commander?"

"You two take care of the girl, I'll take care of him." Hervey and Lenny salute their captain as they both chorus a 'Yes sir!'

Zack looks back over to Yuffie, his eyes giving her an apologetic look, "Sorry for getting you involved." Yuffie merely brushes the comment off with a wave of her hand.

Not a second later, Zack charges at Locke, his sword held high, ready to strike. Jumping in the air, Zack slashes down at the surprised commander with all his might. Locke just barely holds out his machinegun to shield himself from the attack. What a surprise it was for him to watch the sword cut cleanly through his gun a foot away from his face.

Yuffie continues to back away as the two MPs, Lenny and Hervey, continue to advance on her, both laughing to themselves, "It's unfair to gang up on a defenseless little girl like me ya know." Yuffie comments as her back hits the dumpster. The two men see that they have her cornered and begin approaching her more quickly. Yuffie holds back her smirk as she waits for the two soldiers get close enough, 'Morons.' Using the dumpster as leverage, Yuffie leaps up in the air performing a rolling kick, hitting both men in the face with her sneaker. Yuffie, with grace of a ninja, lands on top of the dumpster and pulls out her large shuriken. She laughs at the two surprised men as they get back onto their feet, "Don't go thinking ya can back The Great Ninja Yuffie into a corner without much effort."

Locke growls in frustration as he realizes he's fighting a losing battle. It's all he can do to just block each attack with his nightstick. Without his gun he doesn't have much chance to inflict any injuries on the Ex-SOLDIER in front of him. Knowing he doesn't have a chance unless he can fight back, Locke decides to take a chance and swing his nightstick at Zack's head. That was his mistake, Zack saw the attack coming and swung upward to knock the nightstick out of Locke's hands, leaving the commander defenseless.

Zack points the end of his Hardedge at Locke's neck, "Do you yield?"

Locke growls in anger, muttering a few profanities under his breath as well, "Lenny, Hervey!" He calls out.

The two MPs turn away from the ninja standing on the dumpster to look over to their defeated commander, "Yes sir!?"

"We retreat." He calls out. Lenny and Hervey both exchange a look with one another before saluting their commander and running off. Locke glares back up to Zack as he sheathes his Hardedge, "Don't go thinking you've seen the last of us. Next time you won't be so lucky."

Zack shrugs his shoulder, "I never was a lucky person anyway." He states uncaringly. Locke snorts in response before dashing around the alley. Zack shakes his head in disbelief before turning back towards Yuffie just as she jumps down from the dumpster, "Well... That was fun."

Yuffie rolls her eyes at the man, "Fun? Fun!? Being attacked by three soldiers is your definition for fun?" Yuffe sticks out her tongue, "Not to mention what would of happened to me if I was some helpless girl." Yuffie crosses her arms and taps her foot in thought as she stares at Zack, "So what was up with those three? They seemed to be at ya or something."

Zack shrugs his shoulders, "Nothing really. They were just trying to complete their unfinished job."

"Which is..." Yuffie drags on.

Zack gives a quick shrug, "To kill me." He says as if it was an every day thing.

Yuffie brows raises just a bit in surprise, "Why are they-" Yuffie stops in mid sentence as a loud horn choruses throughout the city. "What was that?"

"That's the ship leaving the dock..." Zack trails off a bit as a thought occurs to him, causing his eyes to widen in realization, "The ship!" He shouts before taking off towards the streets, trying to get to the docks as quickly as possible before the ship leaves the harbor.

"He---y! Wait for me!" Yuffie shouts as she desperately tries to catch up with him. Yuffie comes up behind Zack and hunches over panting, trying to catch her breath as Zack stands on the docks, watching as the ship continues its way out to the ocean. Once she catches her breath, Yuffie straightens up and shrugs her shoulders as she watches the disappearing ship, "Oh well! Guess we just have to wait till tomorrow." Zack doesn't say anything as he turns around and brushes pass Yuffie as he walks away, "Where you going?"

"Below Junon." Zack replies, not ever stopping, "It's a fishing town, there's bound to be someone with a boat."

Yuffie's face pales as she has a mental image of them in a small rowboat, in the middle of the ocean in a hurricane; with forty foot waves while the thunder roars and the lightening streaks across the sky. She sees herself hunched over the side of the rowboat, her face a lovely shade of green as she empties everything out of stomach while Zack tries desperately to stop their little boat from sinking by scooping water out of it with a bucket.

"Hey wait! Let's talk about this!" Yuffie shouts as she runs after Zack, desperately wanting to persuade him to think of something else.

Hmm.... I wasn't planning on stopping right here, I actually want to go further... I already know what I have planned. But I figure this is as good as any place. The next chapter will be lots of fun to write though heeheehee! Anyways, thanks for all the feedback everyone, it means a lot. Oh... crap.. what was your name again... I don't remember... but In response to that 'How to get Zack strategy' I have come across one identical of that before, but the only problem is that certain part, _You must answer every question correctly!_ They give you that much.. they don't tell you which is the right way to answer the questions. That's why I've given up all hope in all the Zack rumors. But I think it's nifty that Zack is in Final Fantasy: Advent Children, even if he is only a flashback. You get more detail in him when you see him with much better um... graphics, ya know? Anyways, thanks for reading everyone! TTNC! (Till The Next Chapter!)


	6. The Joys Of Seasickness

Can't think of anything to say.... Thanks for the reviews.

Disclaimer- I do not own Final Fantasy VII

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The Joys Of Seasickness

In the middle of the lonely ocean, a lone fishing ship travels across. The dark murky water all around it is surrounded by the stars as their light is reflected off the waters. The full moon high in the sky casts its eerie glow down to the surface below. The night air is crisp and a light fog is settling. The fishing ship, better known as the 'Rust Bucket' for obvious reasons, spurts black smoke out of it's pipes as it chugs across the calm waters. The ship is about half the size of the Junon transport ship, used for deep sea fishing.

The cabin door to the fishing ship opens up, the hinges giving protesting shriek. Zack glances at the door's hinges for a moment in disgust before walking out onto deck, closing the door behind him. Out on deck, Zack stares up at the star filled sky in awe, 'Oh.. wow...' After a moment longer Zack directs his gaze back out into the waters. He still can't believe how much they had to pay to use this broken down ship, but he guesses rumors of sea monsters and disappearing ships has that affect on people. Which would explain why the owner of the ship was so skeptical about traveling by night.

------

__

"Alright... I'll take you two across." Zack and Yuffie give a relieved smile. Dario, the captain of the ship glances between the two for a moment, "For the right price that is." He adds in.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Zack mutters to himself. Yuffie just plan out gives an annoyed huff. Zack crosses his arms, not sure he even wants to know the price for a ferry, "Alright... how much?"

Dario rubs his beard in thought, "Hmm... two thousand seems about right."

"What!?" Yuffie shouts, "Two thousand!? What kind of deal is that!?"

"If it were day time the price would be less than half that price. However, you want to travel across now, which would mean in the night, when the waters are dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Zack questions, "How so?"

"Many ships that have traveled across the ocean, without the sun's protective light, have disappeared."

"What do ya mean 'disappeared?'" Yuffie asks, a bit skeptical.

"Few who made it back, said there was a sea serpent who arose from the depths of the ocean and attacked their ship. It's said that it only appears at night to sneak up on unsuspecting ships. It's a monstrous beast with glowing yellow eyes. It's shriek is so terrifying that it stuns people with fear. Some have come to believe that it's the Great Water-Go Leviathan."

"What a load of-"

Zack holds his hand up cutting Yuffie off from saying anything further. "Very well, if you feel that we would be putting your life in danger, we will pay the price."

Dario gives a lopsided grin, showing his crooked yellow teeth, almost causing Yuffie to make a disgusted comment about it. "Well than we have a deal.. Two thousand Gil it is." he holds out his hand.

Zack, partially thankful he had gotten some money from his savings, and partially angry that a lot of it is being spent so quickly, reaches into his pocket ready to pay the man. "Here's you're stinking money!" Yuffie says shoving two thousand GIl into the man's hand.

Zack blinks a bit surprised, 'Why is she paying it? Oh yeah... she doesn't know I have money now... I wonder where she got that money, I figured she wouldn't have much considering she was out traveling. Oh well..'

Dario gives a short happy laugh as he counts out the money before shoving it into his pocket. He signals the two to wait while he goes to get the ship. Yuffie crosses her arms and shoots Zack a sour look, "Ya DO know that story is just an excuse for raising the price. There isn't any sea serpent out there. Nor is Leviathan roaming the waters."

Zack shrugs his shoulders, "Even so, he didn't seem like he would lower the price, and I need to get across as soon as possible."

------

Zack shakes himself out of his thoughts and walks towards the front of the ship. He stops short at the sight of the small ninja girl hanging over the railing. Curiously he walks up, wondering what she's doing. "Ugh..." Yuffie groans sickly. Zack steps up to her side and leans against the railing casually. He sneaks a peek out of the corner of his eyes and his suspicions are answered.

Yuffie's whole body seems like deadweight as she hangs over the railing, her head hanging straight down to the waters below. Perspiration is formed across her skin. Her eyes seem like they're rolled back into her head. Zack also notes that Yuffie's face is quite a lovely shade of green. "Seasickness eh?" He says humorously, finding the situation quite amusing. That is until he got the pleasure of watching Yuffie spill out everything in her stomach into the ocean depths below. Zack makes a few choking noises in disgust, the humor of the sight long gone.

"Ugh... I think I just chucked." Yuffie comments, her voice sounding sickly.

Zack cringes his upper lip, more than a little, disgusted, "Oh don't worry, you did just throw up." Zack tells her.

Yuffie groans sickly again, "I... hate... ships... Ugh... Why can't they build a bridge across the ocean?" Yuffie complains.

"Actually, even if that was possible, it wouldn't help you with your seasickness. The bridge would have to be on large dock type things. The bridge would rock back and forth..." Zack moves his arms to show her what he means, "And it would go up and down with the waves. Your vehicle would moves with the bridge to, it would go from side to side..."

"AARGHH!!! Stop it, ya idiot!" Yuffie shouts, feeling even more sick than before. She puts her right hand over her mouth, trying to hold in the new flow of vomit that threatens to burst out of her stomach, 'If I puke I'm aiming for him.' Yuffie thinks to herself, feeling that Zack is the one to be blamed for her seasickness.

Zack shakes his hands in front of himself frantically as he shakes his head, "Whoa sorry! I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to.. "Zack scratches the back of his head while giving Yuffie a nervous smile, "Heh heh..."

"Motion sickness... ugh... blows..." Yuffie exclaims.

Zack gives a sympathetic smile, "Is it really that bad?" Yuffie lifts her head up briefly to glare at him. "Sorry... I've never gotten motion sickness before."

"Ugh... Good for ya... now... argh... leave me alone.." Yuffie says as she hangs her head back down over the railing.

"You know... Back when I was in SOLDIER.." Zack begins.

"You were in SOLDIER!?" Yuffie says suddenly, obviously surprised.

Zack blinks a bit confused, "Yeah... You didn't know that?" He asks a bit surprised.

Yuffie's nose cringes up in annoyance. The boat gives a jolt as it goes over a larger wave, causing Yuffie's stomach feel like it just dropped to the ground, "Argh... Ya never... told me."

Zack scratches the back of his head in thought, "Well... I thought it was kind of obvious."

"Great..."

Zack blinks confused, "What?"

"I've been... ugh... traveling 'round with a Shin-Ra scumbag." Yuffie says, growing angry.

Zack tilts his head to the side a bit curious, "You've got something against Shin-Ra?"

"Who doesn't?" Yuffie replies quickly.

Zack nods his head in understanding, 'Good point.' "Well, I'm a ex-SOLDIER now, I don't have anything to do with the company now."

"Awe... what happened? Get fired?" Yuffie says sarcastically before giving another sickly groan.

"Actually..." Zack lowers his head as he scratches the back of his neck embarrassedly, "That's one way to put it. I actually have several reasons, one of the main ones you should already know. After all you were there when they were trying to kill me."

"Oh... right... um... I don't care..." Yuffie says, not really wanting to hear all of his excuses. After all, that's all they really are when you look at it, excuses. The way Yuffie sees it, he was fired, there's nothing else to it. Zack gives a quiet laugh at the comment. "What... ugh... were ya going to say before?"

"Before?" Zack says confused.

Yuffie would of rolled her eyes at him if she wasn't hanging over the railing where he wouldn't be able to tell. So it would be kind of pointless to do. "Before we got into this boring discussion about ya getting fired and all that other useless to know information."

Zack crosses his arms, a small grin crossing his lips, "You really speak your mind, don't you?"

"Why think of something to say unless you're actually going to say it?" Yuffie replies.

Zack raises his eyebrow at her answer, "Strange logic you have." After a moment Zack remembers what he was going to say before, "Anyways, what I was going to say before is, back when I was in SOLDIER I had a friend who got motion sickness also."

"Ugh... And I care why?" Yuffie asks, clearly annoyed. Zack shrugs his shoulders. This time, Yuffie does roll her eyes. The young ninja pushes herself upright, ignoring the fact it makes her feel like someone is hacking away in the inside of her stomach. Yuffie puts her right hand on her stomach while she keeps her left hand on the railing for support, "Don't ya ever say something useful? Like telling me the cure for motion sickness."

Zack shakes his head before letting out a sigh. "I thought that taking your mind off of the boat it would help you." He rolls his eyes, "That obviously isn't going to work with you since you can't seem to give anything your attention long enough." Yuffie in return, gives him an annoyed glare. Zack looks around a moment, "Well... It may help if you stayed towards the middle of the ship instead of standing in front of it. You feel the ship moving less when you're more towards the middle of the ship."

"I don't... ugh... care. I feel to sick to move." Yuffie leans down until her forehead is leaning against the railing. She closes her eyes, hoping it would help ward of the sick feeling.

"Don't be such a baby." Zack exclaims before grabbing hold of one of her hands before pulling her along.

"No.. stop... let me be." Yuffie tries pulling her hand back albeit, weakly.

"I'll just pick you up and carry you if you don't stop struggling." Zack warns.

Yuffie sighs and hangs her head, too sick to really put up with a good fight so she just does as he says. "I really don't need to move to another spot. My first puke spot is as good as any." Yuffie complains childishly.

"Here." Zack says as they arrive at the middle of the ship. He sits down on the wooden bench that's built into the cabin of the ship. "See? Less movement. Feeling any better?" He asks, curious to see if his plan had worked.

"No." Yuffie replies flatly. Zack laughs. Yuffie groans as she feels her stomach doing a few flip flops. Yuffie has to admit, there's one advantage to being at the middle of the ship. She can lay across the wooden benches instead of trying to hold herself up on her feet. Moving a bit slowly, Yuffie lays across her stomach on the bench, leaving her head hanging down off the bench just in case she can't move to the railing quick enough if she vomits again.

Zack crosses his arms as he lifts his legs up on the railing, using it as a footrest. Leaning his head back against the wall of the cabin, Zack stares blankly out into the seemingly endless waters. 'I wonder if I'm going in the right direction. I don't really know where AVALANCHE is going, they could still be on the Eastern Continent for all I know. My gut feeling tells me that they went this way though. Maybe I can caught them in Costa Del Solo if I'm lucky. Dario said it would take him two days to get us all the way across. The Junon cargo ship only takes a day. They'll have a day ahead of me if they were on that ship. If they're not in Costa Del Solo then...'

Zack is shaken out of his thoughts as Yuffie lets out a sickly groan. Zack glances down to the young ninja who's laying next to him, a half-smile appearing across his lips.

"My stomach feels like it's being pulled from the inside." Yuffie whimpers.

Zack shakes his head amused somewhat. He redirects his gave back forward as he puts his hand down on Yuffie's back, causing the young ninja to give a startled jump. Yuffie relaxes as Zack rubs her back; making her feel better somewhat.

"Mmm..."Yuffie closes her eyes as she concentrates on Zack's hand rubbing her back; his fingertips occasionally brushing across her bare skin at her lower back. Normally, Yuffie would beat the living daylights out of any guy who touched her, but it does ward off her seasickness somewhat so she'll let it pass this time. After all, it's better than puking her brains out.

Suddenly, the ship is struck at the side, causing water to shoot up out of the water. Zack and Yuffie both fall off the bench to the deck. Zack looks around in a daze from his spot on the deck, "What the-" The ship is struck again, nearly tipping over.

"It's the sea serpent!" Dario's frantic voice is heard over the speaker from the control room. Zack, who had originally thought that the sea serpent was just a hoax, stands up and dashes towards the cabin door to get his sword. Yuffie can't do anything else than lean against the railing as the full wave of the seasickness comes back with vengeance.

Zack dashes back onto the deck once he has his weapon. He looks out into the waters, trying to find sight of anything resembling a 'sea serpent.' The boat is struck again, making Zack almost lose his balance. "Leviathan has come!" Zack can hear Dario's voice, "We're all going to die!"

"Come out and fight little fishy!" Zack shouts, not sure if the 'sea serpent' can hear him. The surface of the water next to the ship begins to bubble. A large splash erupts from the water as the sea serpent rises from the waters. Zack's gaze travels up the creatures long next, "Maybe.... this wasn't such a great idea."

The sea creature has a long lean body like a snake. The scales of the creature give it a colorful gleam to it. Reds, oranges, greens, blues, and purples blend in perfectly with each individual scale. The creature has two lean arms with three long claws on each hand. It's long snout has a large black horn at the end, with three more traveling down it's head, the length of the horns becoming shorter as they go back. Large white gleaming fangs protrude from the creature's mouth. Water drips off the tips of the fangs as the creature opens it's mouth to growl down at the little pathetic creature with his puny sword stare up at it. The creature's yellow eyes shine in delight with the prospect of a meal in it's mind.

Zack's eyes widen a bit surprised as the sea creature thrashes out with one of it's clawed hands. The swordsman barely dodges out of the way in time before the creature strikes again. Zack sets his feet and swings up at the creature's oncoming hand. He can feel his arms jerk back a bit as he makes contact with the creature's hand, but his sword manages to slice through. For a moment there's only silence before the creature shrieks in pain as it shakes it's right arm, it's green blood spilling out onto deck and onto the sea as the hand sliced off sinks into the depths off the ocean.

The creature stares back down at Zack, it's upper lip uplifting a bit as it growls down at the warrior. Zack stays strong, never showing an once of fear as he remains on guard. There's a splash from behind the creature as it raises it's long tail out of the water, raising it up like a scorpion. Zack glances up at the sharp bone at the tip of the tail, no doubt the creature's secondary defense. The tail comes crashing down at him. Zack jumps back. Wood cracks and shatters as the tail breaks through the top deck of the ship.

Yuffie staggers out to where the battle is taking place, her staggering reminding people around her of a drunk person wandering around on a street, "Ugh... alright, alright, step back. I'll.. urk!... take care of this."

Zack glances behind, towards the sick ninja, "Yuffie get back!" Glancing back at the creature he raises the Hardedge up in hopes of protecting himself from the sudden attack. The creature hits Zack away with it's tail. The swordsman grunts in pain as he crashes through the wall of the cabin, much to the captain's dismay.

Yuffie spins on the heel of her left foot, holding her arms outstretched at her sides as she gives a short giggle. She stops herself and stands still for a minute as everything continues to spin around her, "Whoa...." Blinking a bit Yuffie glances up to the sea serpent who seems to be a bit bewildered as to what to think of Yuffie, "Ha! Ya are no Leviathan! Ya pathetic when compared to the Great Water-God!" Yuffie laughs amusedly for a moment before putting a hand over her mouth as vomit threats to erupt from her stomach, "Uhhhnnn..."

The sea serpent growls in anger for being insulted. It thrashes out with it's tail, trying to impale the young ninja with it's tail. At the last possible instant, Yuffie staggers to the side sickly. The creature attacks with it's one good hand but Yuffie bends down as she clutches her stomach.

Zack sits up from the pile of broken wood. He puts a hand on his head and shakes his head, causing pieces of broken wood to fly out of his long black spikes, "Someone get the name of the train that hit me?" Leaping to his feet, Zack prepares to run back into the battle when he stops short as he glances out onto the deck, his jaw literally dropping at the scene in front of him.

The creature continues to thrash out at Yuffie with it's tail and claw, growing more angry with each failed attempt. Every time the creature attacks Yuffie, she seems to find someway or another to stagger, twist, or bend out of the way. The sight made Zack think of drunk-boxing since that's what it looks like to him. What's the amazing thing about it is that Yuffie isn't even aware of what she's doing, she actually just so sick that she's staggering about.

Zack shakes his head in disbelief, "Well this obviously can't last much longer, I better get out there to help before something happens."

Yuffie grabs hold of her four-point shuriken as she tips to the side on one foot, nearly falling over. She spins on her heel as she hurls the shuriken at the sea serpent. The attack came so suddenly, the creature didn't have much time to react. The shuriken sliced cleanly through the creature's tail' cutting it nearly in half.

Yuffie catches her shuriken as stops spinning on her heel right before she's pounded onto the deck by what's remaining of the creature's tail. The sea serpent growls and strikes out with it's claws only to have it's arm cut off by Zack before it's able to strike Yuffie again. As the creature shrieks in pain, Zack kneels at Yuffie's side to help her to her feet, "You alright?" Zack asks while helping her to her feet.

The ship rocks again at the sea serpent pounds it's tail onto the deck. Zack and Yuffie both glance back at the creature as it bends it's head down at them and roars in their faces, each squinting to protect their eyes. "Eww! Fish breath." Yuffe comments disgusted. The sea serpent opens it's massive mouth ready to eat both of them. Yuffie tightens her grip on her shuriken and pushes Zack to the side while she pulls her arm back. The creature moves in to chomp down on the ninja; Yuffie slashes out with her shuriken in hand, "Greased Lightening!"

For a few moments, everyone remained still and quiet. Then Yuffie rubs her nose with a finger while she smirks, "I win." The creature's eyes roll back into it's head and sinks back into the dark waters.

Zack leaps to his feet and runs over to the side of the ship to look down into the water where the creature just sank, "Whoa... You killed it." Zack says, truly impressed. He didn't think the young ninja could be so strong. But than again, he guesses he shouldn't be surprised, he had to fight her himself at one time. Zack turns around to see Yuffie leaning over the railing on the other side of the ship, puking her brains out.

Zack let's out a loud sigh...

Well everyone, that's it for now!! Hope ya enjoyed. Yeesh! I didn't think New Jersey could get much snow 0P, ugh... we got too much! I hate snow, it's cold and well.... it's cold! The cold sucks! Anyways, sorry it took me awhile, but I have play rehearsal everyday after school, BORING, and when I get home I'm so exhausted that I go straight to bed. But anyways, enough about that. I'll just leave now. TTNC!


	7. Returning Home

**__**

Returning Home

__

Zack's P.O.V.

You ever wake up one morning, and just know something is going to happen? And you can only just hope that it's something good rather than bad. Usually when I get these feelings, it turns out to be bad. But I can always hope for the best, right? Perhaps today is the day I get to see Aerith again, and Cloud, and Tifa. Wow... That's going to be some little reunion when I finally catch up to them. Well, needless to say, I'm anxious to get to Costa Del Sol, and if I'm not mistaken, my little hyper ninja friend is anxious to get off the ship in general, for obvious reasons.

It only took about two hours after I woke up this morning when I finally saw the docks to Costa Del Sol. I always liked the beach resort. No matter what the day of the year is, it's always warm and sunny, perfect weather for swimmers, water skiers, surfers, and sunbathers. The town is always lively, the people are nice, all the women are always wearing two piece bathing suites. Not that I ever notice, after all, I'm a loyal boyfriend, or ex... still don't know about that one. The fact of the matter is that I don't go around looking for dates... Okay, so maybe I occasionally 'check out' the women in town, and sometimes end up talking to them for long periods of times at some sort of restaurant or something like that, but it never goes further than that.

There's only one draw back about the beach resort. You had better be loaded if you want to stay long. Everything is so overly priced. You walk into a restaurant and it costs you three Gil for a glass of water! I mean, Geez... not everyone is made of money. By the time 'The Rustbucket' reached the docks of Costa Del Sol, Yuffie must have had enough time traveling on ships to last her a lifetime because she leaped off the ship, kneeled on the docks, and literally kissed the wooden docks, thanking the 'Almighty Leviathan' that we finally made land fall.

Hmm... Leviathan, isn't that the sea creature we killed on the way here? Yuffie claimed that it wasn't Leviathan. It's like she actually knows what the water god looks like. I remember hearing about a place that worships that god. I can't remember where it is though. I wonder if my strange traveling companion knows anything of it. Maybe I should ask her.

Well I figure I can think about it later. What's important now is getting into town so I can check out the wo-... inn. Yes.. I need to go to the inn. If Cloud had truly come this way, surely he'd stay here at least one night. I mean, who wouldn't want to stay at a beach resort? And if Cloud had stayed at the inn, than there's a chance he could be there still, and if he's not, no biggie, I'll just ask the inn keeper to point me in the right direction. Not that there's much of any direction to go to besides west towards Corel.

Giving Dario my thanks for the transport, as uncomfortable as it was, I started towards the center of town. Wait a minute, where did Yuffie go? Now that I think about it, she ran off after she finished kissing the docks. Hmm... Oh well. We were just traveling in the same direction anyway. She probably decided to head her own way. At least she's out of my hair, she's kind of annoying. Though there's something about her that seems... familiar. I just can't place my finger on it. Oh well, I guess I don't need to worry about it anymore.

__

Normal P.O.V.

Zack took his time as he heads towards the local inn, enjoying the view of the beach resort. Zack always did enjoy more lively places. What's so great about Costa Del Sol is the fresh hair, the sent of the ocean filling the air. Most places nowadays have the stale moldy scent of Mako in the air. Midgar is so polluted that you can't even catch the scent of Mako in the air. Junon has the stench of gasoline, grease, and exhaust fumes from all the ships, aircrafts, and other machines within the city. Other villages have Mako Reactors that pollute the air. But Costa Del Sol is different. There isn't a single Mako Reactor for miles. The only thing that gives off pollution in the beach resort is the transport ship and small boats. But it's not enough to dull out the fresh ocean scent.

Stopping in the center of town, Zack glances around, looking around the various shops. His gaze lands on the bar. He stands there starring at it, as if the bar is coaxing him to enter. And as much as he wants to, Zack decides against it. The last thing he needs to do is throw away his precious Gil on some alcohol. 'Guess I should head to the inn.' Zack thinks to himself before passing through town to head up into the inn.

The inn is well furnished. The wooden floor looks freshly polished. The front counter is is empty however. Crossing his arms, Zack ponders where the inn keeper could be. He hears a banging sound from down the stairs. Heading down he sees a man who appears to be the owner of the place, playing a game of pool. The manager glances up from his game of pool, "How can I help you?" He asks friendly.

Zack scratches the back of his head, giving a friendly smile of his own, "Um.. I was wondering if you could possibly help me."

"Need a place to stay? I've got plenty of rooms."

Zack shakes his head, "No, it's not that. I was just wondering if a few friends of mine had checked in at any time."

The manager rubs his chin in thought, "I get plenty of tourists staying here. Give me their names and I'll tell you whether or not they're here or not."

"Uh... Cloud Strife?" Zack replies.

"Yup, he's staying here." Zack's eyes brighten in hope, "Or rather he was and a few others. They left recently."

"Really? How recently?" Zack asks, hoping he'll be able to catch up to them.

"Hmm... I'd say about an hour at the most, maybe less."

'Just an hour? If I hurry I can catch them, I just need to know where they're headed!' Zack thinks excitedly. Today is turning out to be a rather great day. He could very well meet up with everyone finally, "Do you have any idea where they're headed?"

"Hmm... I believe they said something about heading west. My best bet would be going to Gold Saucer. You young folks seem to be attracted to that place."

Zack nods his head, "Thank you, Thank you. you've been most helpful."

The manager leans against the side of the pool table, "Hey no problem. If you hurry you may catch them on the road to Corel."

Zack nods his head again, "Yes of course." Zack begins running up the stairs, halfway up he turns back around and waves down to the manager, "Thanks again." He says one last time before running out of the inn. Suddenly he feels like he's flying, filled with so much energy. Perhaps it's the prospect of finally catching up to them that's giving him the extra energy.

Though he needs to hurry, Zack isn't stupid. He knows the monsters on this continent are much different than the others on the Eastern Continent. He needs to get a few supplies first. Heading over to the item shop, he stocks up on some Hi-Potions and a lot of softs. There isn't anything worse than having your body turned to stone for a whole day.

Once he feels he has the proper items, Zack decides to go widen his variety of materia. His stock right now, is kind of pathetic. Heading over to the other tent, imagine the shock he felt to see Yuffie behind the table selling materia. Is there something wrong with this picture? Remaining quiet as he walks up to the shop, Zack kept his gaze on Yuffie. 'What exactly is she suppose to be doing? She looks like she's selling materia, but since when does a thief work?'

Yuffie finally notices him, "Wh-what are ya doing here?" She asks as her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment. Obviously she didn't think she'd see him at the shop. She glances back over to the owner of the shop as he talks to a few costumers, bragging about having a nice young lass working in his shop.

"I'm here to buy materia." Zack replies matter-of-factly, "What are YOU doing here." He questions.

"I'm here to SELL the materia, duh!" Yuffie rolls her eyes. After a moment of silence, Yuffie crosses her arms and regards Zack with a skeptical look, "Since when do ya have money?" She asks, remembering that he's flat out broke.

Zack shrugs his shoulders carelessly, "Since I withdrew everything I had from my bank account. Anyway, I'm in a hurry so if you so kindly allow me to purchase a Restore, Ice, Bolt, and a Seal Materia I'll gladly be going." Zack states as he pulls out of his pouch full of Gil.

"What're ya in such a hurry for?" The young ninja raises a curious eyebrow.

"The people I'm searching for left just recently. If I hurry I can catch up with them." Zack explains quickly. To say he's getting impatient would be obvious. It took him his whole being to not just forget about the materia and take off. Yuffie forms her mouth in a O before grabbing the mentioned materia. Throwing the amount due for the purchase on the counter, Zack quickly slides some of his new materia in the slots of his Hardedge. "Okay..." Zack says to himself once he finishes equipping his materia. Glancing up to Yuffie he gives her a short wave, "Well, guess this is goodbye then." He says before running away.

"Wait!" Zack nearly trips over himself at the sound of Yuffie's shout. Turning around, Zack's surprised to see Yuffie jump over the counter of the shop and race towards him. She stops when she reaches him, "I'm coming too." She announces.

Zack's shoulder's slouch at her announcement. Why isn't he surprised by this? He can already hear what she's going to say next. And wouldn't you know it, she does. With a mischievous grin, Yuffie says, "After all, I'm heading the same way anyways."

Zack lets out a defeated sigh. He decides not even trying to persuade her to stay. He doesn't have the time anyway. He's in a hurry after all. So with a short nod, Zack agrees, "Alright. Just don't slow me down."

"Like I'd slow you down." Yuffie snaps, feeling insulted, "Make sure you keep up with me!" To prove her point, Yuffie takes off, running towards the exit of town. Zack takes a moment to shake his head before he takes off after her.

-

"Whoa..." Yuffie stared in awe as Zack and herself stare at the Corel Mako Reactor.

Unlike Yuffie, Zack isn't impressed with the Mako Reactor. He's seen enough to last him a lifetime. He's been in enough to know that they're practically all the same. There isn't much of a difference between one Mako Reactor in the central continent than the ones in the Eastern Continent. His hometown had a Mako Reactor. Now it's just scrap metal. The reactor in Gongaga was one of the first built. The reactors weren't perfected at that time. A malfunction accord, the reactor blew up, people died, the town took heavy damaged. Plant's and animals mutated into vicious monsters from the excess waste from the raw Mako that spilt from the ruined reactor.

Zack never did like the Mako Reactors. He felt it was a bad idea to create something that has the potential to produce hideous creatures if there's a Mako leak. Not to mention raw Mako is an environmental hazard. It was only at the mission to Nibelheim that Zack learned that Shin-Ra was purposely producing mutated creatures, using human's for their experiments.

"Let's hurry." Zack says, snapping Yuffie out of her awestruck. He quickly takes off down the walkway, heading down to the railroad that leads to Corel. Yuffie doesn't waste any time in catching up to him. The two quickly travel down the railroad, keeping in mind to listen for any train that might be on the tracks. Luckily for them there's rarely a train on the tracks.

Zack wonders if a train can even travel on the tracks. There's several parts of the railway that caved in, after the many years of decaying wood and weathered steel finally took it's toll on the tracks. Zack just hopes the tracks to give out from under him. It's a long trip down to the river below, something that he doesn't want to experience. Each time his feet lands on the tracks, he can feel the wood give a little under his feet, giving the impression that it's going to snap under his feet every time he steps.

Zack ignored the fact that it feels like his legs are about to fall off, or the fact that he's breathing like someone having an asthma attack. He just keeps telling himself, 'They're close, just a bit further.' Keeping his mind over matter. But he can only go so far, and with he can't get too far when his concentration is broken.

"Wait, wait, wait! Wait I say!" Zack hears Yuffie shouting behind him.

Zack let's himself stop and fall down to his rear, not having the energy to even stand anymore. Can you blame him? He ran all the way from Costa Del Sol to this point. Only taking a breather at the Mako Reactor. Yuffie finally catches up to him, and collapses onto her hands and knees, keeping her head bowed as she gasps for breath. Sweat has made her hair damp, and her form slick looking. Zack can see the drops of sweat roll smoothly down her neck and arms. "How...can you... run for so... long?" Yuffie asks Zack.

Zack opens his mouth, intending to answer her, but he's cut off by the mechanical sound of a bridge setting in place. He turns his gaze ahead of them, to the lower tracks where a bridge sets itself, allowing anyone to cross to the other side. Even from a distance, Zack can recognize who's down there.

With renewed energy, Zack jumps to his feet, "It's them!" He exclaims excitedly. "Aerith! Cloud! Tifa! Over here!" Zack shouts at the top of his lungs, trying to catch their attention. They don't seem to hear him however. "They didn't hear me! Come on! We have to catch them!" Zack runs over to Yuffie and pulls her to her feet.

"Alright, Alright!" Yuffie snaps, too tired to complain at the moment.

"Good let's go!" Zack commands before taking off in the direction of the small group of people. Yuffie groans before following. Zack doesn't hear it though. The excitement of it all is giving him an adrenaline rush. He's finally going to see Aerith again! And Cloud. And Tifa too! Won't they be surprised to see him? He can't even imagine what they'll think when he finally catches them. It'll only be a matter of minutes now. Zack can tell he's gaining some ground on them. He'll get Aerith, return her home like he promised, talk to Cloud some ,and ask him what he's doing. There's nothing, nothing that can stop him from meeting up with his friends now.

"WAAH!"

Everything seemed to slow down as Zack turned around to see the tracks give out from under Yuffie's feet. The wood shattered around her. Her stormy gray eyes are wide with surprise and fear as she desperately flails her arms out to try to grab hold of something. Zack wasted no time, he literally dove for her, his right arm reaching out and grabbing hold of one of her flailing arms. He starred down at Yuffie from his position as she just hanged there by his arm.

Yuffie's entire body trembled as she starred down at the rapids below. She could of sworn her life flashed through her eyes. "You alright Yuffie?" Zack asks, generally concerned.

Yuffie snaps her gaze up to the swordsman, her brows furrowing in a glare, "Do I look like I'm alright?" She shouts, "Look at me, I'm within a brink of my life! Would that make me okay? I just came within an inch of my life! And you have the nerve to ask me if I'm okay? Well let me tell you. I'm just Hunky Dory. Hell I'm better than that. I'm just fricking ducky! Now would you quite being such a dumbass, and get me up to the tracks where it's safe?"

Zack rolls his eyes, "Geez... I was just asking. You don't have to bite my head off, you know?"

"Would you just shut up and lift me up?" Yuffie shouts, not exactly in the best moods at the moment. She'll feel much better when she has something under her feet.

Zack sighs and shakes his head. He holds out his other hand, "Here, give me your other hand." He commands. Yuffie follows his instructions and reaches up with her free hand to grab onto his. Zack nods his head, "Now I need to just..." Zack stops what he's saying as a dull creaking sound rings through both of their ears. Yuffie's face pales. Zack gulps as he gives a short nervous laugh, "Heh heh... uh-oh."

The tracks under him gave way. Both Yuffie and Zack scream as they fall down towards the rapids. Zack tried desperately to grab hold of the bridge, but he couldn't reach it. "We're gunna die AHHH!" Is all Zack heard Yuffie scream before they crashed into the watery depths of the raging river below.

-

"Cloud, did you hear anything?" Tifa asks as she looks back towards the tracks.

The leader of AVALANCHE merely shrugs his shoulders, "No."

Aerith rocked her head from side to side as she starred at the tracks, "..."

-

Zack burst through the surface of the water, gasping for breath. He lifts Yuffie's form up to the surface, "Yuffie?" He calls out to her. No response. 'Crap.' Zack paddles over to the shoreline and pushes her up onto the ground before pulling himself out as well. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings. All he can tell at the moment is that they're in some sort of forest.

Zack shakes himself from his thoughts and gives his attention to the unconscious ninja. 'Make that an unconscious and not breathing ninja.' Zack corrects himself. He turns Yuffie onto her back. Titling her chin back and opening her mouth, Zack lowers his mouth to hers and blows into her. He lowers his ear to her mouth to listen for any signs of breathing. Not hearing any he lowers his mouth to hers again.

Yuffie blinks her eyes open feeling something hovering over her. It takes her a moment to realize that there's a pair of lips pressed firmly against her own. Yuffie wastes no time in swinging her open hand out to slap whoever's above her. "Ow." Zack manages to say before rubbing his cheek.

Yuffie immediately sits up, her face flushed in embarrassment, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She shouts, her voice hoarse.

Zack rolls his eyes, 'Does she always act like this when someone saves her?' Zack thinks to himself. "If you must know. I just saved your life." Zack chuckling painfully, the gash in his leg he got from the rocky bottom of the river making itself noticed, "You have a way with thanking people." He comments, indicating to the red handprint on her cheek.

Yuffie groans as she lays back down on the ground, "I feel like I was just run over by a train."

"Yeah..." Zack agrees, knowing how she feels. After all, he's pretty much feeling the same way at the moment.

"Where are we?" Yuffie questions.

"In a forest." Zack answers, receiving a glare from Yuffie. "More specifically, we're in a forest that's near Gongaga."

"How do you know?"

Zack gives a shrug of his shoulders, "I know the area pretty well. But that's not important. What's important is getting a fire started and getting ourselves dried before we get hypothermia."

"Great, marvelous, what a wonderful idea." The sarcasm in Yuffie's voice is hard to miss, "Why don't we just light the whole forest on fire? All the monsters will burn alive, than we don't have to worry about them either. Than we can prance around in the meadows without a damn care in the world."

Zack can't help but be a little confused, "Um... why would we do that?"

Yuffie's too exhausted to stay angry. Letting out a tired breath she rubs her eyes, questioning Zack's intellect, "Because, if we start a fire in the middle of the forest, it's going to attract all the stupid beasts roaming the forest. They'll gang up on us and have themselves some dinner, meaning us."

"I know that." Zack replies quickly, "I was asking about the part where we prance around in the meadows."

"I was joking damnit!" Yuffie practically shrieks. "GAWD! Don't you know when someone is kidding? Do I look like I'm in the mood to go prancing in a meadow? There isn't even one around here for that matter anyway."

"Well..." Zack trails off for a moment, "I guess... we could go to Gongaga and rest there. It should only take a little more than an hour to get there."

Yuffie doesn't even bother to give a reply.

-

Yuffie hugged her shoulders, trying to keep warm. Her clothes hadn't dried completely yet. And it's beginning to get cold with the sun setting. She kept glancing around the forest that's around her, expecting some sort of creature to jump out and attack her. First they had to make their way out of one forest, they walk across the open plains, only to head into another forest. Luckily this one had a beaten path for them to follow that leads to the town of Gongaga.

Yuffie's never, been to the town, much less heard of it. Her traveling companion had fallen silent since they started heading toward the town, only saying a few things every now and then. Yuffie doesn't like the vibes she getting from the area. Fog covers the entire forest, the trees look creepy to her, like the kind that are from a haunted forest in the movies. It's like ghosts inhabit the area. The thought sends chills down the ninja's spine.

Okay, maybe she's just a little bit creeped out by the area. It's not just the fog, and dead trees that's making her feel unease. The various creature deep within the forest seem to be calling out to them, as if they were coaxing them to head off the beaten path. On more than one occasion Yuffie thought she saw am aspiration making a grab at her, but when she blinked, it was gone. One thing is for sure, the sooner they get to this backwater town and into a building, the better. Yuffie wouldn't be caught dead hanging around in this forest.

"Almost there." Yuffie hears Zack say for the third time since they entered the forest. Yuffie held back her tongue, deciding not to make a comment. She kept close behind him as he led the way. When another five minute pass by, Yuffie can't help wonder whether he's lost or not. She really wouldn't be surprised, everything looks the same, creepy. Much to Yuffie's relief, they come across a fork in the road and take the right road. Finally something different in their surroundings. Up ahead, Yuffie can see smoke rising to the sky.

'Civilization!' Yuffie has never been happier to be near a town than she is now. They climb up top one final hill and that's when she's sees it, Gongaga. A town that's literally falling apart. Zack stops at the entrance of town and just stares at it, making Yuffie stop also. She takes the time to glance around the town. Most of the houses and shops have large gapping holes in the roof. To her left is a small cemetery, a blanket of fog covering it. Giving Yuffie the impression that at any moment, some zombies will burst through the ground. There's only one woman visiting the graves. In Yuffie's opinion, the place is a dump, almost as bad as the slums of Midgar.

"Are we gunna, you know, go somewhere?" Yuffie asks, ready to continue on.

Zack is shaking from his reverie, "Yeah, sorry." He says before heading towards the eastern side of the small town. Yuffie silently follows until they reach the building furthers to the east side. Again Yuffie finds herself stopped as Zack stairs at the door in front of him. If Yuffie didn't know better, she'd say he was afraid. Of what exactly, she doesn't know. She hears Zack let out one last deep breath before opening up the door and walking in, Yuffie scurries in after him.

"Hello?" An old man calls out as him and his wife glance towards the door to see who entered. Zack stares at them, and they stare right back. Yuffie just stands there thinking they just broke into someone's house. Slowly the old couple's expressions change from friendly, to surprise, than finally to hope, "Z-Zack? Is that you?" The old man asks.

Yuffie shoots a glance to her traveling companion. The old woman stands up from her seat and quickly walks over to Zack, squinting her eyes as she stares at him, "I think it is! Zack is that really you? Say something?"

Zack scratches the back of his head, "H-Hi Ma, Pa."

Yuffie nearly fell in surprise, 'Ma? Pa? These are his parents?'

The old couple quickly embrace their long lost son, "Son it is you! Where have you been all these years?" Mr. Buster asks.

"We've been worried sick about you. We almost given up hope!" Mrs. Buster exclaims, clinging onto her son for dear life, afraid if she let's go he'll disappear again, "You haven't sent a letter or anything about your whereabouts for five years!"

'Five years?' Yuffie thought surprised as she watched the small happy reunion. The mother is in tears while the father is practically crying himself.

"We kept sending letters to the company, asking about you. But we never got anything." Mr. Buster explains, before he notices Yuffie standing in the corner, "And look! He brought a fine young lass with him as well. Who is she son?"

"Huh?" Zack says dumbly, having forgotten about Yuffie for the moment.

Zack's mother gasps in delightful surprise, as she turns towards Yuffie. She walks up to Yuffie and wraps her in a hug, surprising Yuffie. "You must be the one he talked about in the last letter he sent to us. Zack's girlfriend!" She announces.

Yuffie's face has never been as red as it is at that moment, "Wh-What?"

OOPS! That's it! Hehehehee! Sorry everyone! But that's it for tonight. I know what you're thinking, 'Damnit! He was so close to meeting Cloud and the gang.' But Lo, my sick twisted mind has prevented that from happening yet again. You all must be wondering when exactly Zack, Yuffie, and AVALANCHE meet up. Think of the situation here... AVALANCHE is in Gold Saucer, Zack is in Gongaga. He's in front of the group now. How could he possibly miss them now? Well... There's always ways. Heh heh heh. TTNC Review! If I get twenty reviews this chapter, I'll have Zack and AVLANCHE meet up next chapter. lol, like THAT would ever happen. Heeheehee!


	8. Night For A Fright

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Night For A Fright

Zack scratches the back of his neck and chuckles a bit embarrassedly, "Uh Ma... She's not my girlfriend. She's... just a friend. That letter is five years old." He cuts in, deciding to help not only Yuffie, but himself out of an embarrassed situation.

Zack's mother seemed a bit put down at the news, but her smile quickly returned as she turned to her son, much to Yuffie's great relief, "So is there a special someone in your life? What happened these past five years?"

Zack's father nods his head in agreement, "Yes. I too am interested in hearing what kept you from contacting us for so long."

"Um..." Zack glances over to Yuffie as if trying to decide something. He isn't sure whether he wants her hearing it or not. It's really none of her business. Plus the things he'll be discussing will involve some of Shin-Ra's secrets. Secrets that some people are best not knowing about.

Yuffie having picked up on what Zack's thinking, quickly feigns a yawn, "I'm beat... Is there someplace for me to sleep?"

Both of Zack's parents share a look with each other before turning to the exhausted looking ninja, "Well... Zack's old room has two beds if you don't mind sharing a room with him." The father comments.

"Huh? Since when does my room have two beds?" Zack asks confused, "Last time I checked, I had one."

His mother gives an innocent smile as she replies, "Oh... we've been renting out your room since the inn here is so small."

"What?" Zack practically shouts, "What of my things? Where'd you put them?"

"Oh they're still in your room." His father replies. Upon seeing his son's worried expression he adds, "We check to make sure everything is there before we let the guests leave."

"O...k." He's still a bit unnerved of the fact strangers have been sleeping in his room. They would be free to roam through his things. Not that he has anything embarrassing that they'll find. But he'd still rather not have people going through his things.

"So um... where's this room?" Yuffie asks, feeling a little put off from being ignored, again.

"Oh... uh sorry." Zack scratches his head, giving her a goofy grin before heading up the stairs with Yuffie in tow. The Ex-SOLDIER opens the door to his room and walks in, glancing around just to make sure everything is in fact there. Seeing that the only difference is the extra bed, he feels a bit relieved. "Just pick whichever bed you want." He announces before heading back down the stairs.

"Hmm..." Yuffie glances around the room, inspecting it. She honestly expected his room to be more... exciting. But it's just plain, homely, downright dull. Regular looking beds, normal dresser, brown rugged flooring. Plain white walls. No posters or pictures hang from the walls. The only thing remotely interesting is broken lamp on the nightstand next to one of the beds. 'I didn't think a room could be so boring.' Yuffie thinks to herself before wandering over to one of the beds to test it out. She sits on the edge and bounces on it slightly, trying to get a feel at how comfortable it'll be.

Yuffie glances around one more time before standing back up, 'Well.. time to see what I'm not suppose to hear.' Yuffie thinks as her usual mischievous grin graces her lips. Creeping over to the door, she opens the door and walks out. She tiptoes down the hall and stops at the stop of the stairs to listen in on what they're talking about.

"Creating monsters?" Yuffie recognizes the voice as Zack's father.

"Yeah.. Shin-Ra was creating the monsters that were coming out of the Nibeheim Reactor." Yuffie raises an eyebrow at what Zack said.

"Oh my!" Zack's mother exclaims, "What happened when you and Sephiroth found that out?"

'Sephiroth?' Yuffie shudders at the name of the Legendary SOLDIER. She's heard enough stories about the man to be afraid of him. Luckily for her he's long gone, or so she's been told. 'How does he know Sephiroth though?' Yuffie wonders.

Yuffie can hear Zack sigh, "Sephiroth... he began to act strangely. The day after I went to speak to him, he wasn't the man I knew. He changed. He kept saying he was produced from Jenova, the creature in the reactor, and that he was an Ancient or something. He... became crazy. He burned Nibelheim down and killed the townspeople. I followed him to the reactor in Mt. Nibel, I had to stop him, or die trying. But.. I wasn't strong enough. Sephiroth... he laughed at my weakness as he tossed me away. But Cloud, I told you about him in some of my letters. He threw Sephiroth to the bottom of the reactor, but he was hurt badly. I could help him, I couldn't help myself."

Yuffie kept as silent as possible, straining her ears to catch every word, "So what happened after that? Where have you been these last five years?" His father seemed to grow more and more impatient, not knowing what had happened to his only child since his disappearance is beginning to put a strain on his nerves.

Zack sighs again, and for a moment Yuffie thinks he isn't going to continue, "Cloud and I were carried back to the Shin-Ra mansion by these men."

"Men?" His mother asks.

"They were scientists. At first I thought they were there to treat our injuries. I was wrong. They brought us down to the underground lab. A scientist named Hojo was in charge of everything. They kept us in containers filled with mako. They'd let us out only to experiment on us."

"Experiment?" Zack's parents question matched Yuffie's.

"Y-Yeah. I don't know what the experiments were for, nor do I know the effects. Everything seems just the same. But we were locked down in the lab for the past five years. I finally managed to break us loose and fled for Midgar. I was fine, but Cloud seemed... out of it. He seemed sick or something. When we reached Midgar, we were ambushed by a group of MPs. They fired, I was brought down. They left when they thought I was dead, Cloud already seemed half dead, so they left him too. But when I was out, Cloud seemed to come to, he grabbed my sword and ran after them."

"He left you behind?" His father's voice rose with anger, "What kind of person leaves his friend to die, especially after you saved his life?"

"He probably thought I was dead and ran off to kill the men who shot me." Zack explains.

"So what happened after he left?" His mother seemed to remain calm about the situation.

"Someone found me..." Yuffie bit her bottom lip as she listened to this part of his story, "Some girl found me. I couldn't see her, I couldn't open my eyes. But I could hear her. I asked her to help me. She carried me to a hospital in Midgar. When I came to, she was gone. I never got to thank her."

"You don't know who she is?"

"..." Yuffie leans forward, her heart suddenly pounding in her throat as she waits for Zack's reply, "No... no I don't. But when I do find her, if ever. I swear I'll repay her for saving me."

The group fell silent, the conversation seemingly over. Yuffie straightens up, ready to leave when Zack's mother suddenly asks, "So son, tell us about your little friend." Yuffie's attention is caught again, causing her to lean back over the railing to hear what the swordsman has to say about her.

"What's there to tell? She's been following around like a lost child."

'Lost child?'

"She's kind of a brat."

'Brat?'

"She's annoying, rude."

'Annoying, rude!'

"And she's a thief."

'Thief.' Yuffie's face is bright red with anger, her eye twitching, as her eyes seem ablaze with rage. She had to stop herself from running down the stairs to strangle him while telling him she's not a thief, but a ninja. 'That jerk! How dare he talk about me behind my back! I should shove my Shuriken so far up his ass that he'll..'

"But she's cool I guess. Kind of funny. Plus she's helped me out a lot."

Yuffie crosses her arms, 'Hmph! I'll let it slide this time.'

"So, what's been happening around here since I've left?" Zack asks.

"Well..." Mr. Buster begins, "Wutai hadn't bothered us after you left to join SOLDIER. Not since that incident."

'Huh? Wutai? Incident? What about Wutai?' Yuffie asks herself. Unfortunately, the answers never came.

Mr. Buster continues, "We've been trying to move on just like everyone else in town. We haven't finished rebuilding, the town ran out of money. And lately, people have been reporting about seeing strange things in the woods near the ruined reactor."

"Like what?" Zack wonders out loud.

"Several people have claimed to have seen the ghosts of the people who died back then. Of course there hasn't been any proof. Just rumors. But than again, there have been some disappearances."

-

Yuffie opens her eyes and blinks, her eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness of the room. She yawns and sits up, surprisingly finding herself in a bed. 'When did I go back to the room?' The last thing she remembers is sitting on top of the stairs listening to the conversation between Zack and his parents. 'GAWD! I fell asleep! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Someone must of carried me here.'

With that thought in mind, Yuffie glances across the dark room to the other bed, only to find that it's empty. 'Geez.. he's still wandering around?' For a few minutes she debates whether or not just to go back to sleep. However, curiosity kept her awake when she tried going back to sleep. Pushing the bed sheets aside, she jumps out of bed and makes her way towards the door.

Knowing that most normal people would be sleeping at this hour, Yuffie tries to be as silent as possible as she creaks the door open. As silent as a true ninja, Yuffie walks cautiously down the stairs. She glances around for any sign of Zack. Deciding that he's not in the house, Yuffie steps out of the house into the cold night. Immediately, the young ninja wraps her arms around herself, trying to keep warm.

Yuffie squints in the darkness of the night. The moonlight casts its eerie glow down on the town, providing her with some sort of light. Fog seemed to blanket the ground however, giving her the impression that she's standing on a cloud. 'Wonder where he went.' Yuffie thinks to herself.

Something catches her attention from the corner of her eye. Turning her gaze towards the entrance of town, she watches as someone heads out of town. 'That must be him!' Not wanting to wake up everyone in town by calling out to him, Yuffie decides to run over to him. Pushing off the front steps of the house, she sprints over towards the entrance of town. When she reaches there, she's at a lost, 'Where did he go?' She looks down the right path, finding nothing but a empty foggy path. To her left, the same.

Yuffie brows furrow in confusion, 'Okay.. how is it that someone can just suddenly vanish?' She glances down the left path again, this time, she does see someone, walking away from her. Not worried about waking anyone up now that she's out of town, Yuffie calls out while running towards him, "Hey!" She shouts as she draws closer. The person stops and turns around to glance at her. Before Yuffie can reach him though, he crouches down into the fog, disappearing.

Yuffie stops short when she reaches the spot she last so him. "What the..." She looks around frantically, suddenly growing nervously, "Maybe... it's not him..." Her eyes dart from side to side, "Maybe... it's someone else."

Yuffie shivers as a chill creeps down her back feeling as if Death's Kiss just tickled her spine. "Um... hello?" Yuffie calls out uncertain as she looks around, keeping her arms wrapped around herself. 'Maybe I should head back.' Yuffie thinks to herself. She blinks as she stares down the path, than turns around to stare down the other way. 'Um... which way did I come from?' She thinks to herself. She tries looking for something familiar, it doesn't help her when everything looks exactly the same.

Yuffie let's out a breath, letting a small white cloud escape her mouth. She turns around, deciding she was heading the right way. She stops however, when she sees someone starring at her. Too far away to identify. 'I think I liked the other way better.' Yuffie tells herself before turning around and running down the path. She keeps telling herself not to look back as she continues to run. She soon finds herself coming across another fork in the road.

She stands there, contemplating. Should she go straight ahead, or left? She bites her bottom lip and looks over her shoulder to make sure no one is behind her. Finding that there isn't anyone behind her, she turns back around and begins walking straight ahead. Someone stands up out of the fog, down in the path in front of her, causing Yuffie to stop. After a moment the person disappears in the fog again.

Yuffie takes a couple of steps back then runs down the path on her left, not caring where it leads. Anywhere is fine by her at the moment. This place is just too creepy for her to stay in one place. She finds herself running into a clearing, out of the woods, much to her relief. She continues to run however, heading towards the structure in front of her. Hoping, and praying its a building that she can get into, to get out of the open.

Her hopes are crushed when she sees that it's a ruined reactor. Gulping nervously, Yuffie wanders in, not sure where she's going. She stops half way to the center of it when she sees a lone figure sitting up top amongst the ruins. Upon further observation, she recognizes the long spiky haired man as Zack. Relief swept through her. The fear she felt immediately disappearing now that she isn't alone.

He must have heard her walking up to him, fore he glanced over his shoulder to look at her, "You're up late." He comments.

Yuffie rolls her eyes at the comment, not even bothering to tell him that he's one to talk. "What are ya doin' all the way out here?" She asks a bit annoyed.

Zack turns his gaze back to the ruined reactor, "Contemplating."

Yuffie raises an eyebrow, "About?"

A half smile forms on Zack's lips, "My life and how much it sucks."

"Who's doesn't?" Yuffie points out.

Zack laughs, "Good point."

Yuffie lets out a tired breath. She gazes around the area, "So why'd ya come here to think anyway? Of all the places ya could have gone, ya come here." Yuffie sticks her tongue out in disgust.

"This place... it means a lot to me." Zack replies a it quietly.

"This hunk of metal? It's nuttin' but scrap metal. What's so great about it?"

"... It's where I decided to join SOLDIER. My first real step in my life."

"Uh-huh... You figured you'd join, get money, become rich and famous, and all that other crap."

"I'm not going to lie, that was one reason I joined SOLDIER, but not the main one."

Yuffie wraps her arms around herself as she begins to get cold again, "So what was the 'main' reason you joined?"

Zack shakes his head and smiles, "You don't want to hear it."

"No, I really do."

"It's a stupid reason... Bit of childish really." Zack warns.

"So? go ahead, tell me. I don't care."

Zack lets out a breath and closes his eyes, "Revenge."

"Um... revenge?" Zack nods his head, "Revenge on who?"

Zack leans back, placing his hands behind him as he stares up at the stars above, "Many outside of town, believe that this reactor blew up from a malfunction."

"Um..."

"But that's not true. Gongaga used to be more populated. There was a training camp close by for SOLDIER. It made Gongaga a popular place to stay if you were planning on going into the service. When I was thirteen our town was attacked. Many people died, and the reactor was bombed which practically destroyed our town. The war started that day, I lost most of my friends that day. So I decided that I would join SOLDIER while the war was going on, in hopes I could get revenge for the people who died."

Yuffie shifts in her spot a bit uncomfortably, "So uh... which war was this?"

"The war against Wutai. Wutai attacked cowardly, hitting a town even before the war was officially announced. I wanted to fight in that war. But I missed my opportunity. I didn't make it to SOLDIER quick enough."

"Um... Wutai you said?" Yuffie gives a nervous laugh, "So you must hate Wutains a lot, huh?"

Zack shrugs his shoulders, "They never leave their country. So I've never really seen one. I heard Wutai is kind of isolated from the world."

"Oh..." They both fall into silence. Yuffie suddenly remembers something, "Hey... how long have ya been sittin' here anyway?"

"Uh... an hour. Why?" Zack turns to look at her. His brows raise in surprise when he sees the slightly frightened look on her face, "What's the matter?"

"Y-You mean, that w-wasn't you?" Zack sits there, blinking confused. "You weren't trying to scare me when I was heading down the path?"

"Did you see something?" Zack asks, still a bit confused. He reaches up to rub his temples as a headache begins to form.

"Um... I think I saw a ghost." Yuffie laughs a bit frightened, "He was there one moment, but disappeared the next. It was really creepin' me out. I thought you were just messin' with me or somethin'."

Zack gives a short laugh, "You're joking, right?" When he looks back at her, he knows she's serious. "You... really saw something?"

"Do I look like I'm jokin'!"

Zack winces, her shout causing his headache to worsen. 'Man... my head is pounding.' "Look, if it'd make you feel better. We can head back." He offers before jumping to the ground.

Yuffie soon follows. She dusts herself off, "That's a good-" Yuffie stops what she's saying, her eyes going wide as her mouth remains open in shock.

"Hey? What's wrong with you?" Zack asks, growing worried. Yuffie raises a shaking hand and points behind him.

Zack raises an eyebrow, turns around, and nearly faints in shock. A man stood in the shadows, he seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Only when he stepped into the light of the moon, could the two make out any features. The moonlight gleaming of the long blade was enough for Zack to know as much as he needed. One name escaped his lips in a ghostly whisper

__

Sephiroth...


	9. Enemies And Friends

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Enemies And Friends

'No it can't be. This is just a dream. This is impossible. I watched him be thrown to the bottom of the Nibelheim Reactor. He can't be real. I'm imagining this. He's dead, no longer existing. But if he's dead why is he there? I must be going crazy.' Zack couldn't really unscramble the thoughts in his throbbing head.

The probability of him ever seeing Sephiroth again is zero, and yet here he is, standing in front of the man he once called friend. His palms are sweating, body is trembling, his head is throbbing, his ears are ringing, his blood seemed to go cold in his veins. To say he's a little afraid is an understatement. He's downright terrified. He can only remember feeling this scared once before, not too long again. In the alley at Junon.

Everything around Zack seemed to disappear as his gaze only concentrated on Sephiroth. He doesn't even know what Yuffie is thinking or doing for that matter. From the silence around him he can safely guess that she's as shocked as him to see a supposedly dead man standing in front of him.

Zack couldn't look over towards Yuffie even if he wanted to. His whole body seemed to turn to stone as he gazed into the cold merciless emerald orbs. They seem to carry all that's evil within them, having no shred of light inside to brighten them. And the smirk across Sephiroth's face. Sephiroth obviously knows that that Zack's afraid of him, it's so obvious that even the most dense person could tell.

"Are you going to participate in the Reunion?" Sephiroth's voice calls out suddenly.

'Reunion? There's a reunion? Who's getting together? Who's going to be there? Why is he asking me? Do I know the people? What sort of reunion is he talking about?' Zack couldn't find his voice to ask these questions, lucky for him he doesn't need to because Sephiroth explains himself on his own.

"Jenova shall be at the Reunion. She will take part in the reunion, becoming the Calamity Of The Skies."

'Calamity Of The Skies? What does he mean? I don't understand. What's he talking about? Why is he alive? How did he survive? Is this a dream? If it is, someone please wake me up.'

Sephiroth bows his head a bit, his eyes narrowing a bit as he glares at Zack through his silver locks, "Are you participating or not?"

Zack shakes his head, trying to make his throat become less tight as he tries to find the courage to speak. Zack could have asked a million different questions that were racking through his brain at the moment. He could have asked how Sephiroth had survived, or what he meant by the Calamity Of The Skies. Out of everything he could have asked at the moment, the only thing that could find its way out was something Zack had no intention in asking, "Hi Seph! How ya been?" His voice came out in more or less as a small squeak, having forced himself to say something through his tightened throat.

The sound of steel grinding bounces off the walls in Zack's skull, making his headache worse, as Sephiroth unsheathes his Masamune. Zack could see his life flash before his eyes as Sephiroth lunged forward, the Masamune posed for attack. Zack took a quick step back, already knowing he won't be able to get away. His foot hits something sticking out of the ground, causing him to fall backwards, the back of his head slamming into something hard. And everything went black.

__

"Hey Seph, did you her about the new mission?"

"...What did you call me?"

"Seph. Flows much better than Sephiroth... Plus Sephiroth is too long. Enough about that, did you hear or not?"

"Yes, I was at the meeting so I think I do know about it."

"Oh yeah. Man... Nibelheim... Seems pretty far to go on a such a simple mission."

"Yes."

"Oh, we'll need a few other men right?"

"Yes."

"Cool, I know just the right guys for this."

"Who?"

"Heh... It's a surprise."

"...I hate surprises."

Zack opens his eyes, blinking from the sudden sunlight filtering through the windows. For a few minutes, all he did was lay there starring out his window, listening to the frogs croaking in the nearby swamp and the gentle humming of... 'Wait a minute.. humming? Window? Sunlight? Where the hell am I?' Zack sits up and glances around, most of his answers being answered right away. He's in his room, it's morning, and his mother is searching through his closet.

The events of last night came soaring back at Zack. The swordsman throws the covers off and checks his body for any holes or any other type of injuries, 'Nope... no holes, scratches, and I have all my limbs. Maybe last night was a dream. After all, here I am in bed.' Zack gave a sigh of relief and hopped out of bed, "What'Cha looking for ma?"

Mrs. Buster grabs a towel from the shelf in his closet and closes the door, "Just a towel. It's about time you're awake, it's nearly ten in the morning."

Zack scratches the back of his head and grins sheepishly. His eyes wander to the clothes tucked under his mother's arms. 'Kaki shorts and green tank top... aren't those Yuffie's?'

As if reading her son's thoughts, Mrs. Buster explains herself, "I needed the towel because I forgot to give your friend one before she went to go take a shower. Her clothes are filthy so I'm cleaning them. Oh, by the way, I loaned her one of your shirts to wear while I clean these. You don't mind, do you? I knew you wouldn't. Okay see you downstairs honey, breakfast should be ready, bye."

Zack stands there with a dazed look across his face. His mother had spoken so fast it was hard to catch then she left without giving him a chance to say anything. Zack shakes his head and decides to get changed for the day. Walking over to his dresser, he pulls open some drawers in search of something clean. 'Hmm...' His gaze falls on a black uniform, similar to the purple mercenary uniform he's sporting. He shrugs his shoulders, 'Well, I am kind of sick of this color now.'

Actually, Zack was quite surprised to find out that the black uniform had actually fit. It was something he wore when training. It was less baggy then the mercenary uniform. He supposes he only fits it because he still hasn't built up all the lost muscle he had when he was shot down.

After changing into the clean clothes, Zack left his room and wandered downstairs, the aroma of eggs and bacon tickling his senses. Heading towards the small kitchen he finds the food set on the table already. Yuffie's already at the table, her hair dripping water on the table; her face flushed from embarrassment as she pulls the large black T-shirt up from slipping off her small shoulders.

Seeing Zack taking a seat, Yuffie decides to say the thing that been on her mind since she got out of the shower, "Your mother is a psycho." She remembers to keep her voice low so no one outside the kitchen can hear, "She practically ripped my clothes off when I woke up this mornin' and shoved me into the bathroom tellin' me to take a bath."

Zack throws his head back and laughs, "That's my ma. I'd feel sorry for you, but I had to put up with that my entire life until I left."

Yuffie grumbles something under her breath, "Are all mothers like that?"

Zack shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, is yours?"

Yuffie crosses her arms and turns her head to the side, "I wouldn't know, she died a week after I was born." She replies sourly.

Zack's smile is replaced with a frown, his eyes gleaming in sympathy, "I'm sorry." He says sincerely.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Doesn't bother me. After all, didn't know her to get attached to her at all." Yuffie bites her bottom lip as she looks down at her plate of food, "So um... what are we going to do?"

Zack blinks, his confusion obvious, "What are we going to do about what?"

"About last night."

Again Zack blinks. He stares at Yuffie's form sitting quietly in her seat with nothing but his shirt on, "Uh... last night? We didn't... but.. oh crap... What am I going to tell Aerith?"

Yuffie raises an eyebrow at the man across from her. Totally unaware of what he's thinking. She watches amusingly as Zack's cheeks are graced with a tinge of red, "Who's Aerith? And why would she need to know about Sephiroth?"

Zack falls out of his chair in surprise. 'Of course you idiot! It wasn't a dream! Get your mind out of the gutter!' He blames it on the fact that he just woke up and he's still half asleep. He can't think of any other logical reason why he would think he did 'something' with the girl across from her. Climbing back into his chair, he notices Yuffie's questioning look. He coughs embarrassedly, "Um.. She's one of the people I'm searching for..." Zack replies before letting out a depressed sigh as he rests his forehead on the edge of the table, "Damnit... I was hoping that was a dream."

"If ya thought that was a dream, what the heck did ya think I was talking about?" Yuffie asks, thoroughly confused.

"Wait a minute... What happened last night?" Zack asks, ignoring Yuffie's question, "Last I remember, that guy was charging at me."

"Oh.. ya hit your head and blacked out. Sephiroth stopped and looked at ya, than said 'I shall head North.' Than he left." Yuffie explains, recalling last night's event.

"How'd I end up here?"

"I dragged ya." Yuffie answers while rolling her eyes like it was the dumbest question in the world, "Which by the way wasn't easy. Though you weigh less than last time, it sucked trying to drag ya while carrying your stupid sword as well."

"Oh... Thanks, I guess." Zack scratches the back of his head, "Wait a minute..." Zack raises an eyebrow, "Last time? What do you mean last time?"

"I never said last time." Yuffie replies quickly.

"Yes you did, you said... 'Though you weigh less than last time.'" Zack points out.

Yuffie shrugs her shoulders, "Ya hearing things. I said, 'Though you weigh less than I thought.'"

"Oh..." Zack answers slowly, a little uncertain, "Anyway... I don't know what I'm going to do about that man."

"You mean Sephiroth?"

Zack shakes his head, "No... that man. He can't be Sephiroth. Sephiroth is dead. I refuse to believe otherwise."

"How can you be sure he's dead?"

"I watched him die."

"..."

"..."

"...Right!" Yuffie says, suddenly enthusiastically, forgetting the prior conversation, "So I guess we're jus' gunna keep searching for your friends right?"

Zack groans, " I knew it...You're just going to keep following me." Yuffie grins mischievously, "Why? Why must you follow me?"

"Well.. I got no place better to go, and have nothing better to do. Beside, two heads are better than one, no?"

"There's nothing I can say that'll make you leave, is there?" Yuffie shakes her head and grins. Zack lets a smile of his own cross his lips, "Fine"

"So where're we headin'?" Yuffie asks as she follows Zack through the forest."

"Out of Gongaga, after that... I don't know."

"Why not wait here for your friends?" Yuffie suggests, not looking forward to start traveling again.

"Gongaga would be the last place they'd go, or anybody else for that matter. There's nothing here of importance." He stops walking and holds his hand out to signal for Yuffie to stop as well, "You hear that?"

Yuffie stares up at him in confusion before straining her ears to pick something up other than the frogs, "Um... no.. Wait.. yeah... It sounds like... like.. uh..."

"Sounds like gunfire." Zack comments.

"Yeah! That's what I was going to say!" Yuffie replies quickly.

"Come on." Zack grabs hold of Yuffie's wrist and takes off, much to the ninja's annoyance. The two runs through the forest, following the sounds of combat up ahead. As they get closer they can hear the sounds of metal clashing being mixed with the gunfire. They stop at the edge of the forest where there's a fork in the road that leads towards the Mako reactor,

Zack's breath caught in his throat, words can't seem to form. There, right in the middle of the path stood the group he's been following. Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and several other people gathered, fighting two men in blue suites. Zack recognized the two men as Turks from the trademark uniform. Not caring about the two people from Shin-Ra, Zack leaps out of the brush him and Yuffie had taking refuge in, "Cloud!" Zack shouts.

The fighting seized at the sound of another's voice. Everyone turned to look at Zack as he rushed towards them. Cloud's face was a mask of shock, along with Tifa's. The Turks glanced at each other confused while the rest of Cloud's friends did the same, wondering who Zack is. But now Aerith. Zack glances over at her and smiled.

Aerith returned the smile...

Whoops! Look at the time! I got to get going! See ya guys later! Heeheehee!


	10. Don't Say A Word

Howdy y'all! Been a while, nay? Well I could give you a list of reasons and excuses but I'm not going to bore y'all with the details. So let's just say once March 17th comes around, updates will become quicker because baseball will be done and over with. Oh man... I almost forgot where I left off in this fic. But don't worry, I got it now. So I'll just continue forth. Now let the REAL fun begin! MWAHAHAHA!

Disclaimer- I don't own Final Fantasy VII

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Don't Say A Word

If there's one thing that Reno of the Turks won't tolerate, it's being ignored by his opponent. Especially in the middle of a fight. So when this newcomer had seemingly came out of nowhere and interrupted the fight, he was a little mad. But when Cloud Strife and his go lucky little group ignored him and his partner, he was beyond mad, he was just plain pissed. It's one thing for his fellow Turks to ignore him, it's another for his enemies. No one ignores Reno of the Turks, unless they wish for a swift and painful death.

Reno isn't surprised to see that his partner, Rude, didn't seem to mind the interruption. Rude doesn't really care about what happens in a fight, as long as the job is done. "What do you say Rude?" Reno asked, getting the bald Turk's attention. Rude merely gave a short nod, signaling that he was ready to continue on with the fight as soon as he is. A smirk crosses the redhead's lips, 'No one interrupts a Turk's fight unless they wish to become part of the battle.'

Zack couldn't believe his luck. He never expected to run into them so soon, let alone near his own hometown. He just couldn't seem to keep himself from smiling like a maniac, he also found it hard to take his eyes off of Aerith. He hadn't seen her in so long. It only took him a split second to decide she hadn't changed a bit. She's still that beautiful, innocent, flowergirl he found in Midgar.

"Whoa... hold it." Barret called out, confusion drawn across his face. The large black man point his gunarm at Zack, and glances to Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, "Yo... how you all know this guy? And who is he for that matter?" The suspicion in his voice is so easy to detect that even a child could pick it up.

"Um..." Tifa begins chewing her bottom lip, obviously lost in thought as she thinks of a way to answer the question, "He's..."

"He was one of the ShinRa soldiers that accompanied me and Sephiroth to Nibelheim five years ago." Cloud fills in, his lips curled into a smile, "He's my best friend from my SOLDIER days. I was looking out for him, since he didn't make it to SOLDIER."

"Um..." Zack scratches the back of his head in confusion. Looking over to Aerith, he could tell that she was equally confused as he was. 'Hold the phone...' Zack thinks to himself, 'What is he saying exactly?'

"Uh, Right!" Tifa jumps in, agreeing with Cloud, "I remember now! He was the one that stayed watch outside of the Nibelheim Reactor, keeping me from going in!"

"Huh?" Zack said in confusion, glancing over to the brunette. Tifa bit her bottomlip, her eyes pleading to Zack. The ex-SOLDIER, understands and quickly nods his head, "Uh.. right. Hi there. Zack Buster is the name. You must be Berry."

"It's Barret!" The large man shouts in annoyance.

Zack grins, "Right, so... who's the rest?" He asks, referring to the strange lion looking creature and large stuff moogle.

"This is Red XIII, and this is Cait Sith." Aerith replies, pointing to each one as she speaks. She takes a step forward, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment, as if debating something. Slowly, she wraps her arms around him, "I'm happy to finally know that you're alive. I was wondering when you'd show up." Aerith says quietly, "You were following us for a long time."

Zack stands in his spot in confusion, "Wait... How'd you know I was following you?" Aerith takes a step back a gives a small giggle, as if she were keeping a secret that no one knows.

Cloud's brows furrow in confusion. He turns to Aerith and scratched the back of his neck as he asks, "Wait a minute, how you two know each other?"

Aerith giggled again, "Oh Cloud, I told you about him. He's my ex-boyfriend!"

Zack forced a sad excuse for a smile onto his face as he listened to Aerith's answer, "Rrrihgt. I told you about her when we were trying to get back to Midgar. I said I was planning on crashing at her place."

Aerith puts her hands on her hips, a scowl suddenly crossing her face, "Is that so? You know very well that mom wouldn't buy that. Not after that mess you made last time she allowed you to stay over."

Zack holds his hands up in defense, "Whoa whoa. I was planning onto. I changed my plans though when I remembered that you still live with your mom." Aerith face turns beet red in embarrassment. And Zack knew it was a touchy subject for the Ancient. To be twenty-one years old, and still living with a parent is unheard of in Midgar, or anyplace really. Usually kids go out on their own by sixteen.

Cloud just stood in his spot, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the man he considers his best friend. In the back of his mind, something was itching it's way, as if a soft whisper were trying to tell him something, something that he needs to know. "Cloud?" The spiky blonde haired warrior shakes his head, clearing himself from his daze before turning to Tifa. Upon noticing her concerned look, he nods his head, signaling to her that he's alright.

The scene had not gone unnoticed by Zack however, "Hey... I don't know what's.."

"That's it! I'm tired of being ignored!" The group turns around to an annoyed, and clearly pissed off Reno. His mako emerald gaze settles on Zack, "Listen you maggot. Either you get lost, or prepare to die."

Zack scratches the back of his head, giving a amused smile, "Well, that wouldn't be good. I already almost died. After all the work I've done to find them, it would seem a bit pointless if I died now. No.. I think I'll keep living." Zack replied before turning to Cloud, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to still have my Buster Sword, would you?" Without a word, Cloud takes off the Buster Sword and sheath that was rested next to his Force Stealer, and tosses it over to Zack, instantly feeling his shoulder feel lighter with the extra weight taken off.

Zack catches it with ease, a smile quickly crossing his lips. He always felt more comfortable in battle with the sword his father gave him for some reason. Now that he has the Buster Sword again, he didn't feel the need to be carrying around the Hardedge. Dropping the sword he had gotten in Midgar to the ground, Zack shoulders his Buster Sword, feeling more than ready for combat, "Once we're finished with these two, you guys need some explaining to do."

Cloud smirks and steps to Zack's side, unsheathing his Force Stealer in the process, "Don't worry, they aren't that tough."

Rude glances over to Reno and raised a brow to his companion, as if saying, Now what?. Reno laughs at the two swordsmen, shouldering his nightstick , "You don't know who your messing with. I'm Reno of the Turks! And this is Rude of the Turks. You have no chance against either one of us, let alone both."

Barret reloads his W-Machine Gunarm, and aims it at Reno, "We'll so who's the fool! Yo need to shut your cocky little mouth before I pump it full of lead."

Red XIII sits on his hunches and looks at the three, "Shall I assist?" He asked.

Cloud shakes his head, "No, the three of us should be able to take of them."

Cait Sith leans back on his Moogle, "Well if you seem so sure than I'll just watch you folks from here."

"Be careful." Aerith calls out.

"I will." Zack and Cloud says simultaneously. The two share a look with one another before charging towards the two Turks.

The two stop short however when they here a shout across the forest, "EARTH'S FURY!" Reno and Rude, along with everyone else, look around in confusing; trying to figure out where the voice came from. The ground in front of Reno and Rude begins to shake as the ground begins to crack open. A monstrous hand reaches out from the ground, pulling the body of Titan up onto the surface. The forest's guardian stares down at the two Turks with it's aged eyes. Suddenly it's muscles bulge as it reaches down, grabbing hold of the ground.

The summon's muscles tense as it pulls up a large chunk of the land. It quickly flips the large chunk of land over, making it fall towards the two Turks. Reno's eyes widen in shock as he watches the piece of land fall towards him. Before he knows it, him and Rude buried under the ground.

AVALANCHE stands there and waits for the summon to turn on them, but it just disappears, having done what it was ordered. The group stares at the pile of dirt that the two Turks had been standing just moments before. A hand pops out from on top of the pile, and Reno pulls himself out of the pile, Rude following soon after. Blood trickles down his face from a cut he received from one of the many rocks that were in the hunk of land. AVALANCHE braces themselves, getting ready to attack if the Turk still wishes to fight.

Reno pats the dirt off his Turk uniform and rests his nightstick on his shoulder. He gives the ground a short wave, "We may be retreating. But we're still victorious!" He shouts before hightailing it out of the area.

Rude casually looks down at his watch, "..." He follows Reno's lead and flees the battle before he's killed.

Cloud sheathes his Force Stealer and scratched his head in confusion, "That was... weird."

"But... who called forth that summon?" Tifa asked. She didn't see anyone in the group call it, and she knew no one had that particular summon to begin with.

"Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!" Laughter rings throughout the forest, "Those two were so easy!" AVALANCHE pulls out their weapons as Yuffie leaps into the path, her stormy grey eyes glowing with amusement, "That's right! It was I! Yuffie! The Greatest Female Ninja Ever, that defeated and saved everyone from those two! Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!"

"Yo... Who's the brat?" Barret asked, looking to Cloud for answers. The blonde was as clueless as he was however.

Zack smacks his forehead and shakes his head, "Oh man... I totally forgot about you." He turns to the ground, deciding to clear things up before anyone attacks Yuffie, "Relax everyone! Uh.. She's with me."

Aerith tilts her head to the side as she studies the younger girl, "Who's this Zack?"

"Um..." Zack trails off, not exactly sure how to answer that question, "She's been... traveling with me." 'More like following me.' Zack adds to himself.

"This is jus great..." Barrets begins, "Jus what I need, two more weirdoes in my group."

"What do you mean?" Cait Sith asked, looking a bit confused, "Surely their not coming with us."

Cloud smiles and nods his head, "If they wish, they can join us."

Zack smiles, "Well, I don't see the harm in it. There's definitely something going on here that I'm not too sure of, so I guess I can join you. Just explain to me what's going on."

"We will, let's all head back to the buggy, I'll fill you in on the way." Cloud said as he turns around and heads down the path.

Cait Sith let out a short groan, "Oh.. I hate riding the buggy! Why do I have to be tied to the top of it?"

"Cuz yo so big!" Barret answers, "We wouldn't be able to fit your fat ass in the vehicle."

"So, you're almost as big as me! I don't see you having to be tied down to the top of the vehicle." Cait Sith points out.

"What yo say?" Barret seethes. Cait Sith laughs and hops away from the furious man.

Zack sat inside the buggy in silence, watching the scenery pass by as the buggy raced across the field. His thought were troubled ones ever since Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE had told him of the situation, 'So Sephiroth really is back... And their going after him. How Aerith is involved in this, I don't know, but than again, I guess half the group isn't really directly involved with this. Guess I have no choice but to go after him as well. But what can I do? I'm no match for Sephiroth, and neither is anyone else. He's the best. No one can match him. Cloud just caught him off guard back in Nibelheim.'

Zack's brows furrow in though as he rests his chin on his palm, 'How did Sephiroth survive? And why did he wait until now to reappear? Will we be able to stop him? Is the Promised Land real? If it is, will Sephiroth find it? What will he do once he does? Why did he go wacko five years ago? What changed him? He said he's the chosen one, the one to rule this planet. How can someone possibly rule a planet? Was that really Sephiroth I saw last night? Or was that just my imagination? No.. it couldn't of been, Yuffie saw him too.'

Zack's thought's went to Cloud, his best friend, 'And what's up with Cloud? He thinks that he's a SOLDIER, and that he was the SOLDIER that went to Nibelheim, but that was me. And he thinks that I didn't make it into SOLDIER, but that was him. Why is he lying to everyone? He knows that I know the truth, doesn't he? Is he doing it to impress Tifa? He seems like he believes his own lie though. If that's the case then... well... I don't know exactly. This whole thing is just confusing me!'

The swordsman gives a tired sigh and tries to stretch his limps a little in the cramped buggy, taken notice that his arms and legs are falling asleep from being forced to sit in the buggy for so long. He lost track of how long they had been traveling, it was long enough for it to turn into night though. He just wished that he could just move a little. "Tifa and Cloud are lucky, they get to it in the front.' Zack thought sourly. 'While I'm stuck in the very back with very little room.'

While everyone else managed to fall asleep, minus Cloud who's driving, he couldn't catch a wink. It didn't help that he was stuck sitting at the very end with the side of the door ramming into his side, or the extra weight leaning on his left shoulder. Releasing another breath, Zack glanced in the very back of the buggy where Barret and Red XIII are sleeping. The cargo area left enough room for the two to crash for the ride. Zack just wishes he thought of jumping back there before they did.

His glances over to the end of the seat where Aerith is fast asleep. To him, she looked just like an angel. With her lips slightly parted, her thick brown locks of hair hiding half her face as she leans the side of her head against the window, it was a scene to be admired. One that Zack would gladly watch as long as he could.

The added 'weight' to his shoulder gave the slightest of movements, causing his gaze to be redirected to the young ninja sleeping against his side. Her expression is of someone at peace, unlike the childish smirk she wears during the day. Her small hands that she hurls her shuriken with such expertise, had somehow found his shirt to grab onto, so she wouldn't fall forward in her sleep. 'She's cute when she sleeps.' Zack decides, 'But when she's awake, man... watch out.'

For some reason, his shoulder felt a little wet, which is strange because he doesn't recall ever getting wet. And he definitely isn't bleeding since he really hasn't done much today. 'Which only leaves one reason. Yuffie's drooling on me.' Zack thinks before squinting his eyes in the darkness to look more closely, and sure enough, he could see a line of drool traveling out of Yuffie's mouth and onto his shoulder. Zack puts a hand on his forehead and leans his head back against the seat, an amused smile across his lips.

'Oh man...'

Well that's it for now y'all! Sorry I have to cut it off here, but well, you know. I got to start my English paper since it's due Monday, and tonight is the only night I have to work on it since I won't be home all day tomorrow. Stupid friggen baseball game, damn four hour ride. Should just skip that game 0P Well, anyways... Review!


	11. Burning Memories

I know I've been sadly lacking in updates for this story, but with the announcement of Crisis Core, I had wished to postpone the story until I've played the game to get more background on Zack. (I recommend the game, it's addicting.) Now after playing it, (I haven't beat it, I refuse to because I don't want to see him die again) I feel I will have more to play with. I'll will be incorporating things from Crisis Core in this story now, just for all of you to be aware of. There are some things I will need to change in the story however, but I might just leave it as is and work off of what I have.

Regardless, my apologies for the long hiatus on this story, but I shall now give you all the update you have been waiting for. Ignore the ah-hem, time skips, I wish to move the story forward.

There's something to be said about an old memory. Not the kind that you look back on and think fondly of, no, but the kind of memory that haunts your nightmares. Nibelheim is home of one of the most haunting memories shared by just a handful of people that are currently alive. Cloud and Tifa witnessed their town burning down, and their own people killed in front of them. Zack had been there, witnessed the catastrophe, and failed to prevent it; and failed further by taking down the man responsible. Having been a First SOLDIER, he had thought he would be the only one qualified to take down Sephiroth.

However; that was Nibelheim, there is, of course, other places with memories that were haunting. At least, for Zack, he may be the only one out of the group he's traveling with that has issues with their current place. He had fought here, had been a Second Class SOLDIER at the time, he had seen death, killings, countless people massacred, much larger than in Nibelheim.

Wutai…

The enemy of Shin-Ra, the barbarians that were unwilling to take the simple way of live, and allow Mako to give easy lifestyles. The bitter arguments had turned to such a hatred among the two groups that a long war broke out. Zack remembers the war for the most part, how he had gone in towards the end of it. The loses, and the victories he had made. It was during the war that he had first met Sephiroth.

Why is he here however? Simply put, after going through Nibelheim and Rocket Town, where AVALANCHE, Cloud's group, had picked up two new members of the group, a certain ninja had got them all.

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"Don't worry guys, the materia will be put to good use. No point in following me, nope! Vicious monsters are in these lands so I would go back to the mainland before you're hurt. Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!"

Yuffie had snuck under all their noses and stolen their materia, but how she managed it was the impressive part. Zack had to admit, he didn't think she had such an intelligent scheme. She had pulled the world out from under all their feet, literally. Swiping their materia was the easy part, getting away with it had been the hard part. They figured it would be easy to catch her, then again, nobody had expected her to be carrying a mastered Quake Materia which ended up sending them falling through ten feet in a large crater.

Zack hadn't been agree however, no. He hadn't been pissed at her. Not after Cid, the chain smoking pilot from Rocket Town, and the foul mouthed Barret, had both accused HIM of the cause. Apparently, their reasoning is because she had been traveling with him to begin with, that he had to be her partner in the mess, despite the fact he was trapped with them. Good Ol' Cloud, and Tifa both spent twenty minutes to convince them both that Zack had nothing to do with it.

That was then however, this is now. They had managed to get through the mountainous terrain to reach Wutai. The place is definitely much more different then Zack remembers. A tourist sanctuary as opposed to the strong pride of the lands they had once been before the war. Spitting up into the groups, the search was on….

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Burning Memories

There's one thing I don't understand through all of this, and that's Yuffie's motivation. I mean, sure Materia is something everyone wants, but it's also something everyone can get. It's not rare or uncommon as it had been years ago. I guess she wants to bring money into the town, it is a bit cheesy now. Looking at the river flowing through the center of the town, and the large tower in the back… the large statues in the mountains, they're all the only things that had any symbolism of the nation I once knew.

Of course, I can't say anything, that would be weird to state that I had been in the war with Wutai when I'm suppose to be some little Shin-Ra grunt. Ah, the irony of it all. Aerith and Cloud are traveling alongside me as we look for Yuffie, such a nice little companionship I have. Cloud, who is, for all strange reasons, trying to be me, or is me… that's confusing. And Aerith, I think she's still mad at me after not showing up after all these years. She hasn't said much to me since I showed up, sure she offers a smile whenever I see her, but she offers a smile to everyone, that's just her.

I sighed, this has been a hard two weeks traveling with these people. "So… what's the plan Cloud?" I asked my 'leader' since he seemed to be the brains of the operations for this group.

Cloud stopped and tapped his foot as he rubbed his chin lightly in thought. He always concentrated a bit too hard when someone asked him a question, I've noticed this in the passed two weeks. "We find Yuffie." He thinks too hard to give simple answers too. "And get our materia back." And he over explains things when they are obvious. "We need to find where she's hiding."

So to make it short, from what I gather from that answer, there is no plan. We search under every rock for the ninja, and capture her. "Right!" I flashed a smile, before giving him a thumbs up. "Well we should split up, it'll make things faster."

"We are split up." Aerith piped in before giggling.

"Oh yeah…" I scratched the back of my head and looked to the ground a bit foolishly. Ah, she always had a way of making me feel like an idiot. I looked around frantically, searching a means of my salvation, "Well, then… let's ask in there." I pointed to a sign that said 'Turtle Paradise' obviously a pub of sorts before jogging over there. I didn't look back to see if they followed me, I knew they would.

I walked right in, and promptly turned around, walked right back out, and slammed the door shut. "Change of plans!" I announced holding my hands out in front of me as I shook my head. "We look elsewhere."

"Why?" Cloud asked.

"Not safe in there."

"Why not?" Aerith inclined her head to the side slightly. Cute.

"Unwanted company."

"…who?"

"….The Turks." Scratching my head with my hand, I felt a surge of mixed feelings. The Turks would surely recognize me, especially Reno and Rude. I am, without a doubt, not on their top friends list. Me and the two of them have a not too good history. Don't get me wrong, I respect the Turks a great deal, especially a certain one.

I had a great friend in the Turks, and if it weren't for my meeting Aerith, I may have pursued Cissnei more than I had. Ah, but Aerith always had a haunch that I had feelings for the female Turk, which I did, but she also had a haunch that I had been cheating on her with the Turk. Which I hadn't been.

Reno and Rude found Cissnei and my friendship as a silent competition and always held a grudge against me. That isn't a problem anymore. No. The problem now is Cissnei and my history, and our final meeting. Reno and Rude wouldn't think of it as a competition anymore, no.. they would be on a murderous rampage for revenge.

"The Turks huh? I wonder what they're doing here…" Cloud commented thoughtfully.

"Hmm…" Aerith gave me a strange look, as if trying to judge my current train of thoughts. Now that I thought about it, she probably doesn't know anything about Cissnei.

"Better not to find out for the time being." I replied back.

"True, we should avoid them." Cloud pulled out a phone and called the rest of the other groups, informing them of our information and to stay low.

"I think I found Yuffie." Aerith announced. Cloud and I both looked to her and she lifted up a hand to point. Following her direction, I found myself with a strange vision. Yuffie, tied up and gagged, thrown over a shoulder by another ninja of sorts, being carried off towards the mountains.

"I guess we have to rescue her in order to get our materia back…." Cloud said thoughtfully.

"Well.. This is a strange twist of things." I laughed, finding it oddly amusing before we ran off towards the mountains.

Mountains are, in short, a pain in the ass to hike across when you're carrying an oversized sword that shouldn't be able to be wielded by someone that is smaller than said sword. Thrown in a couple of strange fiends lurking about in the mountains, waiting to jump out at you, and you have a situation that is harder than it should be.

We had been running around the mountain range for twenty minutes before we made a lead on Yuffie's location. Of course, we wouldn't have found her if she hadn't had the gag removed from her mouth, which allowed her to shout and announce the 'Grossness' in which what is implied towards her.

"Don Corneo?" Aerith and Cloud both looked surprised to see the oversized, balding, fat man decked out in the stylish red robe. Judging from both their reactions, it's safe to say that they both had seen him somewhere or another.

"How is it you both know him?" I questioned, rather confused. The reaction was strange, Aerith giggled, and I swear Cloud started to blush.

"Let Yuffie Go!" Cloud announced, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh great. I'm hanging here, and my only means of escape are by a blonde bimbo giving orders to sicko." Yuffie announced.

I glanced up to her, aiming to say something at her, but then I noticed another woman hanging from the face of the statue. A blonde woman who's dressed unmistakably like a Turk.

"Shut up, you don't know what I've been through." Don Corneo turned away from us all, overlooking the distance, "It's a long story but…"

"Skip it. I don't care about it." Which I, in all honesty, don't. I just want to get the two of them down.

"Hmm.. Serious are we?" Don commented as he turned around. "Why did you have to kill my poor Apps? Well now I'm going to make you play with my new pet. Rapps! Come here boy!"

"Rapps?" I said to myself. I turned towards Cloud and Aerith and took note of the fact that they both pulled out their weapons and stood on guard. Taking the hint, I pulled out my Buster Sword and looked around, looking for any trace of a creature that might be hiding.

Coughs As we can ALL see, my long hiatus from the story has made me rusty. I feel I may not have it in me to do something with this. XD Ah, in truth, I may make a different story all together. I wish to see a Zack/Cissnei fanfic, yet, I do not see any on the site, so I may just have to write one myself. Anyways, yeah. This chapter is kind of jumping all over the place, but it's an update. Sorry for the lateness and the lack of anything happening. I needed to get ahead a bit in the FFVII world.


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